After the hottest summer
by Dark Gothic Lolita
Summary: After having the hottest summer, feelings are hurt and feelings are gained. Can Zancrow get over his fear of love and will Juvia accept him for all he is? CRAP summary, but it's the first ZanVia EVER (I think) School AU
1. Chapter 1

Hey Dark Gothic Lolita here!

Sooooo, remember when I kept on saying I've been working on a new pairing? THIS IS IT! THIS IS THE PAIRING I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON! I have many more stories that I have written for this pairing and this is most certainly not the first.

Why this crack pairing you ask? Simple. Juvia and Zancrow have TECHNICALLY met before, correct? Right before he died and before Juvia passed out. That is my argument. They have met okay?! Okay!

Disclaimers are boring.

ENJOY!

* * *

 **After the hottest summer**

 **Chapter one**

"I HATE YOU, I ABSOLUTELY HATE YOU!"

Juvia didn't even realise that she was speaking in first person as she shouted at the male who was standing and smirking in front of her. Her hot angry tears poured down her face as she gave him her deadliest glare, trying to get him to stop smirking at her and take this seriously, but being serious wasn't in his nature.

"Oh c'mon, why are ya cryin'? You and I both know that this was supposed to be nothing but a little bit of fun, just some sort of summer romancin', right? I was only helping you get your mind off that guy...Blue, was his name?"

"His name is Gray," Juvia said through gritted teeth. "Juvia knows that this was just a little bit of messing about."

"Yet here you are, having feelings for me."

Juvia went silent. She couldn't deny that. She did end up catching feelings for him, even though she vowed that she was going to try her ultimate best and do no such thing. Her heart had reached out to his when it wasn't supposed to do so and now here she was, getting hurt once again.

"Juvia isn't bothered by that. What bothers Juvia is that Zancrow had a girlfriend this whole time. Did Zancrow mean anything he said to Juvia? Actually, forget that Juvia asked that question, it was stupid. Either way, school starts again tomorrow and seeing as Juvia and Zancrow go to separate schools, Juvia won't have to worry about Zancrow ever again."

She didn't even say goodbye as she just turned on her heels and walked away from him. She expected for him to run after her and apologize and say that he was going to make it up to her. But she knew Zancrow better than he knew himself and she knew that he was going to do no such thing. But that was why she liked him. He was spontaneous, unpredictable and daring. The guy was completely crazy and she came to enjoy that.

She wiped her tears with the back of her hand, walking away from the guy who stole her heart. She probably wasn't going to get it back as well.

* * *

"Natsu and I slept with each other during the summer holidays."

The other girls started squealing when they heard that come out of Lucy's mouth. Lisanna was texting someone and all the girls were looking at her, wondering if she was going to get jealous or something. When she didn't, everyone was surprised. She put her phone away and looked up at the confused faces. Was it because she hadn't said anything?

"Oh, was he good?"

"The best!"

Lucy was oblivious to Lisanna's crush on her childhood best friend, but the other girls had not been. Right now though, Lisanna was acting like she got over him.

"I met a guy, but he goes to Sabertooth. His name is Sting." Lisanna blushed when she said that and all the girls started squealing once more. There was just so much good news flying about it was actually so cute!

Juvia sat off to the side, her face as blank as a slate. Her mind was still reeling from the day before and she couldn't get the blonde out of her head. She hoped for nothing but the best for him and his girlfriend. She was just his side chick the whole time and she didn't think that was fair on his girlfriend in anyway. She had never been so hurt in life and she had been dumped twice. First by Bora who hated the fact that she didn't put out (because hey, they were like 13) and Gray who thought she was a bit weird.

"Juvia? What about you, what did you do all summer? Any cute guys?"

"No." Because Zancrow wasn't cute, Zancrow was absolutely _hot._ "You guys knows Juvia, she worked all summer long as a lifeguard at the local swimming pool. Juvia saw cute guys, but they all had girlfriends." The same way Zancrow had a girlfriend the whole entire time that they were fooling about.

Cana hugged her friend and grinned. "Hey, don't feel bad, I didn't find anyone!"

"Yeah, cos you don't remember finding him or doing the dirty with him." Evergreen smirked as the girls looked at her for the full story. Cana wasn't the sort of girl to care anyway.

"So we went to this one rave and it was the first time I'd ever gone to one sober and you know, not stoned because I'm in a relationship now, so anyway! Cana got drunk as usual and she hit it off with one of the guys from Quatro Cerberus gang! Of course they were so out of their heads they had sex in the middle of the whole thing and parted ways, not even remembering what happened."

"CANA! Did you even use protection?"

Cana shrugged and Evergreen laughed. "I fished out the condom myself and gave it to Cana. It was quite hilarious watching her put it on him with her toes. I don't know what the fuck they were all thinking! All I know is, it was absolutely hilarious!"

All the girls laughed and the guys started settling into the room as well. Lucy glanced over at Natsu who smirked at her and they all watched as she blushed. Gray was avoiding Juvia at all costs, thinking that she was going to try and talk to him even though he ended it before the summer began. Juvia didn't once look his way, but was on her phone instead.

"Hello ladies, so how was your summer?"

Gajeel stood over them with a feral look on his face. He stood behind Levy who immediately blushed as she froze in what she was doing. She hadn't told the group of her own romantic escapes with Gajeel and all the girls were giving her looks that said 'we'll discuss this later'.

"Doing pretty well actually. Worked on my tan, got laid and what not. It was a cool summer."

Natsu laughed as he came closer. "Oh yeah? And who the hell would sleep with you, four eyes?"

Just as he said that, Elfman walked into the classroom, his eyebrow raised as he glared at Natsu. "What did you just say to her?"

Natsu got the message and he backed away cautiously and apologised to Evergreen who in turn just turned her head to gaze at her boyfriend. The guy might have looked like a big oaf or a brute, but he was her brute and she didn't care about what anyone else had to say. She gave him a sexy smile and he smirked back at her.

Juvia's phone then rang and they all looked at her as she too jumped. She looked down at the phone and saw that it was from an unknown number. She frowned before moving away from the rest of the group. She wanted to hold this conversation in private. Luckily, she had five minutes until the bell went to signal homeroom.

"Um, hello?"

" _Juvia."_

She knew that voice from anyway. Why was he calling her? Did he want to her to have a heart attack?!"

"Zancrow," she breathed out quietly. Her friends had all gone back to talking, but Gray was throwing her glances every now and then. "What does Zancrow want?"

"To say that we're going to be seeing each other, very, very soon."

She quickly pressed the red button and shoved her phone away, not wanting to hear the rest of it. Her friends gave her a questioningly look and she shrugged her shoulders. "Prank caller." That seemed to make Gray relax as he stared at his ex. There had been no discussion of their break up, he just ended it with her and she did the typical cry and run. But she didn't badger him or try to tell him that she could change. Not seeing her for the whole summer also made him miss her a bit.

Juvia caught Gray looking at her but just ignored him. Her feelings for him had vanished along with the fading romance of Zancrow's summer time love. She had lost her virginity to Zancrow and even though they hadn't ended up together now and that they weren't even on the best of terms, she didn't regret that. She loved every minute with him and that's why it hurt so much.

The bell finally rang and everyone calmed down and they all sat down, waiting for their teacher to come in. The man came in and Cana grumbled under her breath, obviously not impressed with his entry.

"Hope you all had a good summer, because I did."

Their homeroom teacher Gildarts had gone on holiday with his wife, leaving Cana home alone all summer. It's how she was able to go to all those raves without getting in trouble. Although her father was the king of partying, it didn't mean that he was going to allow his daughter to follow in his footsteps as the partying princess.

Juvia didn't even bother with the mindless chatter as she just stared out of the window, her chin resting on her hand. Why had they had to argue the day before they all went back to school? Now she wasn't going to be able to get him out of her head.

" _Not here with your boyfriend?"_

 _Juvia looked up to see who was talking to her in her depressive state. She was such a Debbie downer that she was surprised that anyone would be talking to her in this state. There he stood, a guy probably about her age with wild blond hair, reminding her of her best friend. His eyes were red, but he had these rings in them. If she had never seen Gajeel and his brother, she would have thought that he was wearing contacts._

" _Um, no we broke up. How do you know Juvia has a boyfriend? Well had."_

 _He sat down in front of her and Juvia had to admit it, she liked this sort of boldness in a guy. He grinned at her despite the fact that it looked like he was supposed to be on his shift. He wore a black dress shirt with a red waistcoat and black jeans with a pair of black vans to finish._

" _You come here a lot, so I see you guys. I've been your waiter a few times, but you're so wrapped up in looking at him that I don't think you've noticed any waiters. I'm not a stalker or anything."_

 _He gave her a grin that would have said otherwise, but Juvia ended up laughing instead of feeling a bit weirded out by the waiter who had come to talk to her. She liked his company. Funny, he was actually the first person that she had told about the break up since Gray had done it almost three hours before. Even her best friends didn't know about it._

" _Oi Zancrow, get back to work!"_

 _Some guy from behind the bar gave Zancrow his angriest face and Zancrow flipped him off. He then looked back at Juvia._

" _I'm gonna get a bollocking, but for now, I don't care. As he just yelled out, my name's Zancrow and I guess that your name is Juvia."_

 _Juvia nodded her head, feeling a little blush come on. She hadn't thought her name would have ever sounded perfect coming out of someone other than Gray's lips. Towards the end of their relationship, the only way that Gray would say her name was with an exasperated sigh, as though he was sick and tired of her. That should have been her first sign of a break up happening soon._

" _So I work Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Hope to see you again."_

 _He winked at her before he stood up to take another table's order. Juvia felt her face glow up and she stood up from her chair. As she got to the door of her and Gray's favourite restaurant, Frank Canard, she looked back over her shoulder and at the same time, Zancrow had looked over at her, the same time that he did. They grinned at each other before Juvia stepped back outside into the heat of the summer._

"Juvia? You okay, the bell just went and you're kind of out of it."

The girl was launched out of her thoughts as she looked up to see Lisanna standing over her desk giving her a friendly smile and Juvia quickly jumped up, a fake smile up on her face. She grabbed her school bag.

"Oh you know, just thinking about how summer was and now we're back in school. It's depressing."

Lisanna looked over at Juvia and gave her a look that said that she didn't buy her lie one bit, but she just sighed and shrugged it off, pretending that she bought it. Juvia sighed in relief. It just meant that Lisanna was going to ask in private about what was on her mind.

"Yeah, it is depressing. I mean, now Sting and I can't see each other. I never even got to tell him how I feel and you know how these things go. He'll probably find another girl that he likes at his school and because he can see her everyday, he'll be like 'Lisanna who'?"

"Lisanna doesn't know that, maybe he's different."

"Doubt it. He can get any girl that he wants."

"And if he wants Lisanna?"

The girl let a smile slowly take over her lips as she ducked her head and tried to hide her blush. "I...I would really like that. Do you really think that maybe he likes me back?"

"He'll be crazy not to! Juvia has maths, what about Lisanna?"

"I've got Japanese. I guess I'm heading this way. See ya later!"

Juvia waved as Lisanna turned left and she turned right, into the first classroom on the corridor. She heard a lot of shouting and she frowned. Why was it rowdy already? She pushed open the door and just about caught what the teacher was saying.

"-will be having students from Grimoire Academy because their school was used as a 'trap house' for the whole of the summer holidays as well as other illegal activity. They're shutting down the school to clean it out as well as find the men who did it. We'll be having 30 students per year group (per grade) spread out between the other schools in the area."

Juvia made her way to one of the empty seats, not really caring about what the teacher had to say. That was until it clicked in Juvia's head.

" _I'll be seeing you again, very very soon."_

She groaned internally. She didn't need this in her life. What if he came here? What is he got sent here with his girlfriend as well? There was no way she would be able to cope with her school life. She would end up avoiding him at all cost. Besides, it's Zancrow, he will pretend to try to be her friend and then drop hints to her friends.

She sighed and brought the textbook that the teacher had put on all their desks, wondering what maths was going to be like this year. She wasn't going to stress herself about Zancrow, not when he was...coming through the classroom with almost five other people.

She quickly popped up her hood and pushed all her noticeable blue hair out of her face and she gazed out of the window, making sure that he didn't see her. If she didn't hide her blue hair, there was only two other people with blue hair, her cousin Levy and some guy called Jellal.

The teacher introduced them as the new students and they all had to say their names and their hobbies and all that jazz. Juvia tried not to, but she only concentrated on Zancrow's entry.

"I'm Zancrow, a crazy son of a bitch."

That's all he said and it made Juvia smiled while she stared out of the window.

" _Fancy that, you come to where I work and now I'm here."_

 _Juvia looked down from her high seat to see a shirtless Zancrow standing there, looking up at her. She glowed a nice shade of red, admiring the eight pack that he wore so greatly on his chest. His biceps were big, but not like Elfman big. She could just imagine herself falling into those arms..._

" _So what is Zancrow doing here then? Out with some friends?"_

" _Yeah, my guys are still changing so I told them I'll meet them out here. Little did I know I would be seeing a hottie. At least now when I drown, you'll be giving me the kiss of life."_

 _Juvia pulled down her sunglasses from her head and over her eyes and turned her head away, trying to not to show her reaction to that compliment. She was an easy person to read, so Zancrow probably already knew that she was going to react like that. He laughed._

" _Aww, c'mon, don't hide your face from me, beautiful."_

 _When she looked back at him, through her blue rimmed sunglasses, she saw him throw a wink at her and she smiled, biting her lip. She got down from her chair when she saw a little child struggling to get out of the water and no one seemed to be helping him up. She grabbed his arms and pulled him out._

 _When the child thanked her and walked off to his family, there were shouts from guys over on the other side of the pool, shouting to grab Zancrow's attention. He raised his hand up, giving them his crazy grin before he turned his attention to Juvia._

" _So when do you get off?"_

" _Some time around 6?"_

" _I'll be back for you then." He then turned around and slammed his body into the water. "CANNONBALL!"_

 _All his friends cheered and Juvia laughed, even though she was now standing at the side of the pool, soaked to the bone. She got back up on the lifeguard's chair and through her sunglasses, she was always watching Zancrow._

 _She was the last one to leave and lock up. That's because the owner of the place was a family friend and they trusted Juvia, knowing how capable she was. She also had a passion for swimming, therefore she was going to treat the place respectfully._

" _Hmm, I came back just in time."_

 _She jumped when she turned around and found Zancrow standing there, right behind her._

" _Zancrow scared Juvia! She didn't really think Zancrow was going to come! Why is Zancrow here anyway?"_

" _I wanted to go for a little swim with you. Come on, I know you want to. Just for like ten minutes before you lock the place up or something."_

 _Juvia looked at him and when he thought that she was going to say no, she grabbed two towels and headed to the pool with him walking in step with her. "You're not swimming in your clothes right?"_

" _Don't be silly, Juvia has stuff to wear!"_

 _Yes, she did have swimwear, but she didn't know whether she wanted to wear it while she was alone with Zancrow. He seemed to be waiting for her and she slowly grabbed her shirt and raised it above her head slowly, almost like a strip tease and Zancrow stood there watching. She wore a blue bikini top with white polka dots. She then removed the shorts she was wearing to reveal matching bottoms._

 _She blushed when she noticed him staring at her and she tugged his hand. "Come on, are we swimming or what?"_

" _Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah, sure."_

 _She slinked into the water as she swam around the pool, waiting for him to come and join her. She got a little annoyed when he still stood on the side, so she caused a wave of water to practically wash him out._

" _WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"_

" _Zancrow was staring."_

 _He smirked as he jumped in and started chasing after her as she laughed, running away. They were both playing 'it' for a while before Zancrow opened his arms and wrapped her in them. They stayed like that for a while as they listened to each other's heavy breathing._

" _What is Zancrow doing?"_

" _Thinking about something."_

 _She didn't say anything as she waited for him to continue. It took him a while, but he finally started talking again. "I was thinking about why Gray dumped you."_

 _Juvia tried to pull away from him. Why was he bringing up all the negative stuff?_

" _I mean, you're fucking funny, you're amazing and you're beautiful. What more could he actually want?"_

 _Juvia hadn't been expecting that all. "Juvia doesn't know, he just broke up with her. But Juvia is getting over it slowly but surely. She doesn't really want to get into a relationship for a while, not until she sorts herself out. Besides, this is the first time we've hung out and we don't know much about each other."_

" _Three months will do it?"_

" _Hopefully. Either way, what's it to Zancrow?"_

 _She swam away from him with a cheeky smile on her face and she watched him as he watched her also. A lazy smirk came up on his face as he swam back towards her, closing the gap between the two of them once more._

" _Y'know. I was just thinking about something. Don't worry bout it."_

 _He held her round her waist and grinned, making her stomach almost explode as she held onto his shoulders. She stared into his eyes and when she realised what she was doing, she looked away. She couldn't do this. It was only a few days since Gray broke up with her, she couldn't suddenly get with a new guy, no matter how hot or nice he was._

 _She pushed herself away from him and he didn't even bother stopping her as they gave each other one last look before turning away. They seemed to have the same idea as they both stepped out of the pool and went to dry themselves in silence. Juvia placed her shirt and shorts back on and waited for Zancrow to be done before locking up._

" _Maybe I'll see you later."_

 _With that, he was gone and Juvia didn't know how to take that. Did that mean she ruined what could have possibly happened, or did he really mean that he was going to see her again? He seemed like the sort of guy who would dismiss a girl by saying stuff like that though._

Juvia heard someone settle down next to her and she was so afraid to look. That was until she heard Zancrow's voice float from somewhere else in the classroom and when she finally got the guts to look, it was some other person sitting next at the desk next to her and she let out a sigh of relief. Good, she was yet to be known to him that she was in this class.

"Right, well now that all the introductions are done, let's start the new year."

The class was dragging on and Juvia wasn't really paying attention, but she was making sure that she was getting some work done so that the teacher wouldn't shout her name and alert Zancrow that they were in the same class. If she could get away with not being called, she was going to have to wear hoodies everyday they had maths together.

She felt a buzz in her pocket and when she looked over at Zancrow who had been placed literally on the other side of the classroom to her, sitting by the door while she sat in the back corner by the windows. He had just put his phone away and she knew that it was him who sent the message. All the more for her to not text back.

She wished that her friends were in this class to talk to, but now Zancrow was here, there was no way that she would want for him to embarrass her in front of her friends and remind her of what could have been but will never be.

She looked up at the clock and grinned when the bell went off anyway, making everyone get up from their seats. Juvia took her time as the Grimoire kids all grouped together and left, making Zancrow leave with them. She unlocked her phone and sighed heavily at the text.

 _I'll be looking for you._

Look for her for what reason? They already spoke, they know what will be happening from now on, so like whatever.

"Erm, excuse me?"

Juvia turned to look at the girl who sat next to her and smiled a little bit. She hadn't realised that there was still one kid from Grimoire still here.

"Um, yes?"

"I was wondering if you could show me to my history class? I have no idea where it is obviously."

"Oh that's okay, Juvia would love to. Luckily, Juvia has geography which is on the same hallway. Let's go! Juvia's name is Juvia by the way. What about yours?"

The girl was pretty, like beautiful in fact. Her pink hair flowed with long locks down to the small of her back and under her school shirt, it was obvious that her chest size was amongst people like Lucy and Erza. Her eyes were grey with almost a tint of green. She was like some sort of exotic beauty. She grinned at Juvia.

"I'm Meredy, pleased to meet you."

And just like that, Juvia's whole world collapsed in front of her eyes.

* * *

"So what's the emergency that couldn't wait until our next class together? Juvia? Wow, this must be like, serious."

Lisanna was watching her friend pace around the toilets. She seemed to be in extreme distress and she grabbed Juvia by the shoulders, shocking the hell out of her. She looked into her eyes, blue on blue.

"Juvia, calm down and just breathe. Okay, now look at me and tell me _everything_ because I get the feeling that it wasn't just nothing but work that happened, was it?"

Juvia shook her head and rubbed her face with her hands. "Okay so as Lisanna knows, Gray broke up with Juvia like, at the beginning of summer. Well that very day, Juvia went to Frank Canards and it turns out there's this really hot waiter who works there who always sees Gray and Juvia. We got talking and Juvia told him we broke up and he was just being so nice. Then Juvia saw him again the next week and we swam together and stuff. All in all, we had a friends with benefits kind of thing going on and when Juvia told him yesterday that she came to like him...he said that he's in a relationship already!"

She burst into tears and Lisanna wrapped her arms around her friend and she hugged her, soothing her the whole time. "Why does that name sound familiar? Wasn't he in my Bio class like just now? Oh...he goes to Grimoire and is now here..."

"Yes..."

"Oh baby, come on! No tears! I hate to see you like this! Why didn't you say anything to me? Forget that, I never told you about Sting, so like whatever. How about after school we go and do a bit of retail therapy, huh? You and me."

Juvia laughed a little as she smiled and wiped her tears, pulling away from her friend's hug.

"Juvia forgot, she got to meet his girlfriend and she's really nice."

"...We'll go home and get my dad's card."

* * *

So how was that chapter? As you can tell, this is an AU story, but have no fear, I'll be releasing more ZanVia stories when I wake up because right now it's 1am and I need some sleep before my lectures tomorrow lol. I have three more ZanVia stories that I have been working on, so you all better keep an eye out on it!

Please don't forget to rate or hate, flames or floods! Please give me some reviews and I can give you some love!

Lolita-chan


	2. Chapter 2

Hey Dark Gothic Lolita here!

So yes, I was supposed to update this a while ago, but the wifi here is shocking. Like it's awful, but I'll get over it. That and I haven't been sleeping properly. I wake up late and sleep late and then party and do assignments lol. It's just uni life I guess.

But how has everyone been? I know only a few people are reading this story, but I have had a few of you tell me to continue updating this! Don't worry, that's what I'm here for! Going to see this through to the end!

Disclaimers are boring

ENJOY!

* * *

 **After the hottest summer**

 **Chapter two**

"Um, won't Lisanna's father be a bit mad at the amount of money Lisanna-chan is spending?"

The white haired girl waved her hand as they both had about five new outfits each. She grinned at Juvia as though to say no, and she just carried on walking. "This is retail therapy, I'm sure he'll understand. It's time for you to look like a stunner so that you can face Zancrow tomorrow and show him you're not affected by his presence!"

Juvia shook her head. "No, no, no! Juvia is not going to be popping up 'randomly' in front of him to show him how Juvia doesn't need him!"

Lisanna pouted. "Oh, why not?"

"Because, Juvia will crumble."

Lisanna thought about it. "Hmm, that is true, you're weak emotionally..."

"Lisanna!"

"Okay, that was mean of me, sorry! Let's go get something to eat before we head off home, I'm starving! Though that might annoy mum because she will say that I ruined my dinner. Okay, let's just go for some donuts."

They were both discussing their day and what teachers they had and who they didn't when Lisanna started smiling even wider than before. She had her eyes on someone as Juvia tried to follow and see who she was looking at. It was this blond guy who was standing next to this black haired guy, who held hands with a sky blue haired girl.

"Um, Lisanna-chan?"

She was brought back to earth when she heard her name being called and a blush tinted her cheeks ever so slightly. She had just been caught ogling some random guy. Juvia was going to say something, but she then remembered what Lisanna had said at the beginning of the day, she met a guy...

"Let Juvia guess, that's Sting?"

"Yeah...I can't let him see me or know that I'm here!"

Juvia smirked as she walked backwards and away from Lisanna, making the latter of the two raise her eyebrows, trying to make sense of what her friend was about to do. When she got out of the donut shop, Juvia ran towards her with an excited look on her face and Lisanna immediately knew what she was going to do.

"Don't even think-"

"LISANNA! Juvia has been looking all over for you!"

That made the three turn around and Sting found the back of Lisanna's head. Lisanna stared at Juvia with nothing but a look of hurt, betrayal, anger with a tinge of hope in her eyes that maybe Sting had actually heard her name being called.

"Lisanna?"

Both of the girls looked up to see that Sting was standing there with a grin on his face. Lisanna smiled at him, somewhat shyly and Juvia couldn't help but internally coo at how cute they were both being. It made her smile that Lisanna was finally getting the attention she deserved.

It was no secret that Lisanna had been in love with her childhood best friend, Natsu, yet two years ago when Lucy came to the school, it seemed like Natsu took a shining to her instead of looking at the one girl who had loved him since they were like five. It had hurt the youngest Strauss obviously, but she had gotten over that. It was clear she had.

"H-hi, Sting. What's up?"

"Y'know, tryna unwind after the first day of school. I'm guessing that you're tryna do the same thing as well." He gave a pointed, but amused look at the amount of shopping that the two girls had done and Lisanna ducked her head, sheepishly smiling. Juvia just grinned and Sting noticed her.

"Oh hey, I'm Sting, I'm a _friend_ of Lisanna's."

"Juvia is Juvia."

He stuck out his hand and Juvia shook it. She didn't miss the way he stressed out the word 'friend' and he was looking over at Lisanna with hopeful eyes, as though he wanted her to say something else as well. Juvia sighed at her friend when she didn't say anything and decided to give her yet another big push.

"Juvia is going to go and get a smoothie from the store opposite. See you guys soon!"

Juvia left them both and Lisanna looked like she wanted to shoot Juvia for ditching her here. Juvia laughed evilly inside of her head as she thought of herself taking on the role of cupid. It was something Lisanna's older sister would do as she loved playing matchmaker. Surely Lisanna should be used to this sort of behaviour.

She got inside of the smoothie shop and there seemed to be no queue. She could hear laughter of teenagers around her and she didn't bother looking to see who they were. None of her friends hung out here anyway, so it wasn't like she would be hanging out with anyone anytime soon. She just needed a smoothie and then she would check up on Lisanna, to see that she was still alive.

As she ordered her berry bash smoothie, a familiar voice called out to her.

"Juvia!"

She paid for the smoothie and tried to find the owner of the voice. She saw a hand shoot up into the air and it waved around manically. Juvia then looked down at the face and gave a half hearted smile as she saw it was indeed Meredy who was yelling out her name. She sat at a table next to some moody looking brunette and like three other guys. Juvia deemed it safe to go seeing as there seemed to be no Zancrow.

"Hi Meredy."

"Hey! So these are my friends. This here is Ultear, the guy with the plait is Bluenote, the tubby guy is Kain and the afro guy is Asuma! Guys, this is Juvia, she showed me to my class! Plus, I copied her maths notes when she wasn't looking as she's really smart!"

Juvia almost choked on her smoothie and her eyes went wide. Ultear gave Meredy a disapproving look. "Meredy did what now?!"

"Oops, sorry Juvia, I was supposed to tell you, but you let me rant!"

Juvia sighed and shrugged with a smile. The girl was literally too innocent that you just couldn't stay mad at her. She couldn't believe that Zancrow had cheated on Meredy, with her! She felt so bad! What if Meredy found out? The girl would be so crushed and by the looks of it, Ultear would probably end up crushing Juvia. She'd only spent ten seconds with the group and already she could tell that Ultear was like a big sister to Meredy.

"Meredy shouldn't worry, it was only the first day. Juvia can't believe that Sensei made us do work on the first day."

"I know right, and it was maths no doubt! So gross! Ultear here is a GENIUS at literally everything."

That put a smirk on the girl's face as she tried to look nonchalant. "Hmm, I'm not bragging, but Meredy here can do it for me."

Juvia didn't know why, but that made her chuckle a little bit. Usually, she hated snobby people, but Ultear seemed to make it work and she sounded sassy. Juvia certainly didn't want to get on the bad end of that. No, they couldn't find out about her being Zancrow's 'other woman'.

"Aww man and you just missed Zancrow! He was the loud blond guy in our maths class. I think you would like him!"

Asuma made a noise that said otherwise and Ultear seemed to agree with him. Asuma looked up at Juvia. "I beg to differ. The guy is crazy, but I guess we are all a little bit insane, so we can't judge him. You? I don't know if you are into that sort of guy."

Juvia shrugged, trying to pass it off as though she didn't know when really, she knew Zancrow on a whole new intimate and personal level. Of course she wouldn't like him because she was literally in love with the guy!

It was then she suddenly remembered Lisanna. "Oh! Juvia just remembered that she left her friend to flirt with some guy, so Juvia has to go and check in on her, make sure she didn't faint while Juvia was away! Maybe Juvia will catch you all at school tomorrow?"

"Yup yup! I'll see you tomorrow!"

Ultear smiled a little bit. "Yeah, you're alright. I thought you Fairy Tail lot were all snobs."

"Same. I guess we like you."

"The food at Fairy Tail is amazing!"

Everyone looked at Kain and he blushed, quickly trying to change what he just said. "I mean, yeah, we'll see you around!"

Juvia smiled before practically running out with her smoothie and balancing her shopping. She had to get back to the donut store before Lisanna got mad with her. That was when she saw him coming out of a phone store. He was walking right towards her to go to the smoothie store and he now saw her as well. They both stopped in front of each other. Juvia made sure that they weren't in the view of the smoothie store. It was like time slowed down around her and Zancrow made his way up to her, the same lazy smile on his face.

"Hey, what's up?"

His voice was smooth and Juvia liked that. She scowled internally. Why was she giving into him already? "Um, Juvia is good. What does Zancrow want?"

He just kept on looking down at her and she was more than happy that his friends wouldn't be able to see them, especially Meredy. That would just end a friendship that barely started. Why was he doing this to her anyway? She thought that they were over now and that she had expressed nothing but hate for him yesterday.

"Juvia thought she said that Zancrow should leave her alone?"

"Yeah, but is that what you really want? Look me dead in the eyes and tell me that that is what you really want."

She couldn't do it and she knew that he knew that she couldn't do it. Why was he doing this to her?! He was messing with her head!

"First of all, we were doing this casually. Juvia knows it's her fault that she ended up falling in love with Zancrow, Zancrow then tells Juvia he has a girlfriend, yet here we are, still talking? What does Zancrow _really_ want from Juvia? To mock her? Was it because Juvia was too easy and vulnerable? Please, just leave Juvia _alone!_ "

For the first time ever, Juvia watched emotions flitter through his face before they were gone once more. He scratched the back of his head as he couldn't believe that he was actually going to say this. "I...I miss you. I know it's only been a day, but I was looking for you all over school only to hear from Meredy that we were in the same maths class the whole time."

He gave her a pointed look and she looked away. "Yeah, but what about Meredy? Juvia can't do that to her, she's so nice."

Zancrow took his time to reply and Juvia turned back to see that he was thinking about something. He finally sighed and came up with an answer. This was the first time Juvia had ever seen him so calm and not like, insane. "Okay, how about friends? Can't we stay friends?"

"Juvia will have to think about it."

"JUVIA, I HAVE GREAT NEWS! Oh, who's this?"

"I'm Zancrow-"

"And we're leaving now, come on Lisanna-chan!"

"Coming!"

Lisanna ran behind Juvia, but not without looking over at Zancrow and smiling. "So that's him?"

Juvia sighed, her heart hurting so much. Why was he doing this to her? She wanted nothing to do with him so that it would be easy on the both of them. She would eventually lose her feelings for him and he could be with his girlfriend! So why was he making it so hard?!

"Yeah, that's him."

" _Wait, so even when you were with this Gray, you didn't do it with him? Not even once? Not even a little cheeky handjob?"_

 _Juvia shook her head. They had been hanging out for a couple of weeks now. Turns out that when Zancrow said he'll see her around, he really did mean it and not some way to blow her off gently. She had found herself having so much fun with him, yet she was still in love with Gray, ever so much in fact. She found Zancrow attractive, but she didn't love him. He was more like a celebrity crush._

" _No. Juvia thinks that's part of the reason why we broke up. Juvia wants to have sex after marriage, but there were so many temptations that Juvia went through!"_

 _Zancrow threw his head back and laughed, his wild blond hair much like that of a lion's mane. While he respected her and her beliefs, he had to laugh at the temptations part. "Oh yeah? Like what?"_

" _Whenever Gray removes his shirt, Juvia just wanted to run her hands down his front. He said stuff like he's so hot and all that. Juvia also knows that Gray is the sort to kiss and tell, so imagine when we have sex? Also, sometimes, Juvia just isn't that turned on. Gray talks about all the things he wants Juvia to do to him and not once does he want to do anything for Juvia. Not like Juvia would have minded, but at least once, Juvia wanted it the other way round."_

 _Zancrow hummed and found it awfully convenient that they were at his house...in his room. His parents were on their little date night and besides, even if they came home, they too might get on with activities that Zancrow doesn't want to think of his parents doing._

" _Oh, so you want to have sex, but at the same time let it be like a dirty little secret, right?"_

 _Juvia nodded her head enthusiastically and Zancrow couldn't help but find this girl even more attractive. She was so innocent, but at the same time, dangerously dirty. He liked bad girls sure. Like they were awesome in bed, but to be a girl's first time and jumble up their mind so that whenever they got with another guy, they would have to compare it to their first to see which was better._

 _He sat a little closer to Juvia. "Hmm, okay, so you want to be attended on as well, right?"_

" _R-right. Juvia hears about how hard it is to get a girl to cum, Juvia would like to see if it's true..."_

 _She trailed off, wondering if she had said too much. She looked over at her new summer best friend and he seemed to be thinking. It was serious stuff when he started thinking because as Juvia had learnt, he never thought about stuff. The guy was spontaneous and what could she say, she was a sucker for risky guys. Makes her wonder why she never fell for Natsu, but rather Gray. Also, it was time to let go of this sex after marriage thing. It was clear she couldn't last._

" _How about this...I be your first time, huh? We're not a couple no, we're just...fuck buddies basically. I attend to your needs whenever you need it and you can come to mine whenever I need it. No feelings involved! I know how much you still love Gray, but I swear, call me Gray and I'll burn your tongue!"_

 _Juvia gaped at him like a fish. The guy was just too open sometimes! How could he come out saying something like that?! She couldn't deny the fact that she was curious though. She had wild fantasies and although she was ashamed to admit it, Juvia shared her porn stack with her childhood best friend, Gajeel. It was their secret only and Juvia didn't think she would even tell Zancrow something like that._

" _Juvia...Juvia will do it."_

" _Great! Let's start now! Because this will be your first time, this is going to be all about you, got it? Good. I promise to be good. Now, go wash your hands and then head back and sit on my bed. Gotta do it properly, right?"_

 _Juvia nodded her head, a blush coming on her face. She was happy he had sent her away to go and wash her hands anyway. Then she started getting a little bit self conscious. Was her sacred place okay and clean? Was the kind of bikini wax she got alright? Did Zancrow care about how much hair was there?_

" _This is harder than Juvia thought."_

 _Zancrow had an en suite, so he was there getting ready while Juvia used the guest bathroom. She looked in the mirror and gasped. She combed out her hair, washed her hands and her face and prepped herself. There were no feelings attached, so she shouldn't care about what Zancrow thought._

 _She came back to his room and he seemed to be ready. She came towards him shyly and he sent her his usual smirk, to show that nothing would ever be different between them. "I'm not gonna hurt ya. Take it easy okay? Just relaaaaax."_

 _And Juvia did just that. Zancrow's hands were then on either side of her body as he pulled her down to the bed with him. She sat on his lap and she tried her best to keep calm. She was suddenly feeling really hot and she was tempted to ask him to open the windows._

" _Okay, so I'm gonna ask for your permission to try anything new. If you wanna stop, just say so. You direct me with the speed and tempo, slow down or go fast. If you find you like dirty talk, ask for it. I've been told I'm good at that."_

 _Juvia laughed at his attempt to keep the mood light and she found herself enjoying it. Zancrow pushed her off a little bit and she heard something land on the floor. Confused, she looked at what it was and saw his shirt._

" _Lean back."_

 _She did and she could feel all his muscles even more now. The way they felt, the way they were molded, it was like it was telling her a story as she could feel it on her back. The blood rushed up to her face and she suddenly felt extremely hot. She wanted to ask for a quick drink, but that was only because she wanted to stall it. She might as well get it over and done with now._

" _Doesn't Juvia have to get undressed?"_

" _Nah, we got all night...Well even if my parents come in, their room is too far away to hear what we're doing." Juvia blushed, wondering if she would really be that loud and how thick the walls were. That was just be so embarrassing! But she trusted Zancrow and that was all that mattered right now._

 _He ran his hands up and down her arms gently, almost like a ghost touch and she felt her skin tingle and goosebumps appear. She felt herself smile and she enjoyed it. Who knew that Zancrow would ever be this gentle?_

" _Just close your eyes and enjoy."_

 _Oh, well that wasn't so hard, especially at the pace he was going at. He really was taking it nice and slowly, thinking about her. She was most probably going to have to make it up to him. She would use all the explicit stories of Cana's sex escapades to do that. Hopefully she would perform it right._

 _Juvia almost had a mini heart attack when she caught herself thinking of doing this again when she had barely done it the first time!_

 _His hands went lower and lower each time, finding her stomach in her crop top and her waist. Juvia felt herself sink into him, enjoying the feeling. She felt him tug at her shirt._

" _Can I take it off?" He whispered gently into her ear, causing for her to take a sharp intake of air. He was so...different...While she enjoyed it, she hoped he didn't treat her like fine china the whole way through._

" _Go ahead," she said in an almost breathless tone. He gently lifted it up and over her head, her hands up in the air. Zancrow pulled her arms down and she found his hands running up from her stomach right to underneath her bra._

" _Damn, you're so beautiful. If I were Gray, I would have waited for you, even if it meant marrying you."_

 _Juvia blushed, her eyes still closed as she couldn't believe her ears. It was probably the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her, and they weren't even dating so his compliments weren't needed. Still, it was nice to know that he wasn't just using her._

" _Alright, say goodbye to the skirt as well."_

 _His finger found her waistband and she giggled a little bit, his fingers tickling her waist. Zancrow chuckled deeply as well in her ear and she could hear the vibrations from his throat. He slid it off of her legs so simply, almost as though it was nothing and it slipped onto the ground. Now she was sitting on his lap in just her underwear and she didn't know how she felt about that._

" _Hah, nice set."_

 _Juvia just so happened to be wearing her birthday present that Cana had given to her a month prior, saying that she should wear this when she gets it on with Gray. Well, she was half getting it on, but it wasn't with Gray. It was a white and blue lace set._

" _Okay, so have you ever touched yourself?"_

 _Juvia didn't know how she could reply to that. She was a closet perv, thanks to Gajeel and she had watched many porn videos that got her going, but she never came, so she gave up on it as it wasted her time. She went red and didn't even look at him and looked behind him instead._

" _Yes..."_

" _Hmm, I thought you would have said no. Anyway, what do you think about, usually?"_

" _Gray?"_

 _Zancrow frowned. "Why did that come out as a question? Tell me the truth."_

 _Juvia went red once more, not even believing that she was having this conversation. Why did it matter about what she watched? Zancrow was still waiting for her and she sighed, finally answering. "Okay fine. Juvia never usually thinks, she just watches porn."_

 _Zancrow burst out laughing a little bit and muffled it up when Juvia nudged him straight in the gut. "Wow, good girl gone bad! How did you come across porn?!"_

" _Gajeel-kun."_

" _Understandable." Zancrow had met the guy and they got on pretty well actually. That didn't mean he was to ever know about this situation. "Okay, I want you to think of your most relaxing scenery. This can be a holiday destination that you like or something like that. Describe it to me."_

" _Um, okay, well Juvia's family always goes camping, along with an abroad holiday every year. We have this lodge that we stay at and there's a creek that Juvia found when she was little. The creek is just so calm and the grass is lush that Juvia loves playing in and getting lost. It has never rained whenever we're out there so it's always so calm."_

" _Sounds cool. You should take me there too. I would love to get lost with you."_

" _Yeah Juvia should." She then gasped sharply as she felt something in her navel._

" _Hmm, are we getting somewhere? Show me, where do you feel it?"_

" _Um, down here." She ran a line down from her lower stomach into her pantyline and Zancrow followed that line, making something grip in her stomach. It was like an ancient force that wanted out after being buried for so long. But Zancrow barely touched her yet!_

" _Right, I'm going to start touching."_

 _Juvia didn't even trust herself to speak, just nod and hum as she felt something slide at her labia and clitoris. His hand hand found one of her generous molds on her chest and started toying with that. She writhed under his touch and she felt quite amazing._

" _Getting somewhere again! Okay, let me try this then." He captured her lips and she almost opened her eyes out of surprise, but she felt the same force push at her again and she felt lightning crackle through her body. She felt so amazing. It was their first kiss together and he was so bold about it. Not like her first kiss had been with Gray where he was so unsure._

 _He then retracted both hands and Juvia moaned in annoyance. She opened her eyes to see Zancrow smirking at her. "Remove the knickers and ditch the bra. Do it slowly, give me a strip tease."_

 _He let her stand up and she performed one she had watched many times. She slowly removed her back and turned to the side looking sensual as Zancrow could see her, double Ds? Well they pop right out of their holders. When she slipped off her knickers, her arse was right in his face and he felt himself go harder than he already was._

" _Okay, come back here and lie down on your back. Then open your legs. Don't worry, we're not going the full way just yet. I've got stuff to show you."_

 _She nodded and lay down on his huge bed and he crawled, hovering over her. He grinned at her and his hand drifted up closely to her chest. "Tell me if you like it when I do this." He tweaked her nipple as she arched her back while he kneaded her breast._

" _Oh! Yes...Juvia likes that!"_

" _Yep, definitely a masochist." He brought his mouth down and flicked her nipple once more, only using his tongue. Then he sucked on it. Hard._

"Juvia!"

She was pulled out of her thoughts as she turned her head to see Lisanna giving her a look before they put their shopping in her car. "Geeze, does he really affect you this bad that you're thinking about him? You didn't even listen to a word I said!"

"Yes Juvia did, Lisanna-chan was talking about how Sting came right out and said that he liked hanging out with you all summer and that he would like to take it to the next level and become your boyfriend."

Lisanna smiled and nodded her head, getting bashful. "Anyway, it's not about me, it's about you and Zancrow now. What were you guys talking about? In fact, where did you even go?"

"Juvia saw Meredy and her friends so we all started talking. When Juvia was going to come back and meet Lisanna, Zancrow came out of the shop and was right there. He said that he missed Juvia and stuff, even though he has a girlfriend. Can Lisanna believe that he wanted to be friends after all he said yesterday? Yeah right!"

She pulled hard on the seat belt before crossing her arms over with an angry look on her face. It hurt that he had literally ended everything the day before and yet here he was, trying to act like it was going to be fine, when clearly, it wasn't. She hated him for that, she really did.

Yet, she still loved him.

~x~

Ultear and Zancrow walked by in silence. They lived on the same street, so while the other three had left them, they were still together and they barely ever talked.

"So...Juvia..."

Zancrow flinched when he heard Ultear talk about Juvia. She was the only who knew about the two of them which was surprising, but that was because she had seen them hanging out in the holidays and started badgering him about her.

"She's an alright person, for someone from Fairy Tail. In fact, I can see why you ended up falling for her."

"I don't fall for people Ultear."

She grinned at him, telling him that she thought otherwise and he rolled his eyes at her. He wasn't going to have this discussion with her now, or ever in fact.

"I don't know why you can't admit to her that you like her back. I've seen the way you look at her, Zancrow, like she's the only thing that this world has to offer you, like she's the best thing ever!" Ultear was like the mother of the group, always looking out for them, so when she was shopping for her mum during the summer and she could hear Juvia and Zancrow, she was hiding behind the aisle, staring at them and seeing how happy Zancrow was with her. Ultear decided that she liked the girl.

"That because she _is_ the best thing ever!" He hissed out at her. His red eyes looked like they were spinning in anger as he looked at her and she decided to take a step back from the situation, but not without throwing in,

"So why did you push her away then?"

He looked thoughtful which was weird, because she was so sure he would have told her 'it's none of your fucking business' without hesitation. Right now though, she could literally see the conflict in his head. His eyes were filled with pain, as though someone had told him something time and time again that eventually just stuck in his mind and now he believes it.

"Because I'm not worthy of any love."

That was the last thing he said before he slipped into his house and Ultear looked on with worry. She was right. Someone HAD told him something to put him down and now it looked like he believed it, while hiding behind his tough exterior. It was okay though. She was going to bring them together whether they both liked it or not.

* * *

Oopsy, failed to mention that I might throw in a hot scene here and there teehee. I hope that didn't offend or hurt anyone! But how was that chapter? Was it good?

Please don't forget to rate or hate, flames or floods!

Lolita-chan


	3. Chapter 3

Hey, Dark Gothic Lolita here!

So I saw that I actually hadn't updated this story since 2015 and I'm really disgusted with myself! i thought a lot of people wouldn't have been reading it, so I didn't mind not updating, but lately, a load of people have told me to update this story! I'm just so happy that you guys actually enjoy it! Thank you so much for being supportive!

Disclaimers are boring.

ENJOY!

* * *

 **After the hottest summer**

 **Chapter three**

Ultear slipped into her art classroom and sat down in one of the lone chairs at the back. She loved art, especially sculpting. It was a profession her mother was extremely talented at and it was passed on in her DNA, straight to her. She knew that Fairy Tail's art department was prestigious and she couldn't wait to see what they would be doing this term.

Her eyes flickered to the door where she saw Juvia walk in through and she grinned. So it looked like Juvia was in her art class. That would be easy to start talking about Zancrow then and see what she feels for the guy.

Juvia was sat diagonally in front of her by two rows and Ultear frowned, wondering how she was going to be able to talk to her now, but she knew she would end up finding a way.

"Good morning class, and welcome to the new year as well as our guests from Grimoire. My name is Reedus-sensei and I hope to share in your joy for art. First of all, I want you to grab a partner. The next two weeks only, it will be a little bit of an icebreaker. In here, I see talented art students, but you all like different things, am I correct? Well, for one week, I want you to do the art that the other person loves and the next week, it will be the other person's. Start grabbing partners and whoever is left, I'll pair them up with someone."

Ultear smirked as though things were all working in her favour, which they probably were. She jumped from her seat and without wasting any time at all, she went to tap Juvia on her shoulder who turned around and smiled in surprise.

"Ultear-san is in this class too? That's cool!"

"Yeah, I saw you walk in. Seeing as I don't really know anyone in this class, can I be your partner? I know you may not want to work with anyone from Grimoire though." Ultear was also a great actress. She tried to play the sympathy card to more or less force Juvia to work with her.

Juvia grinned and moved over her stuff so that she could sit down next to her. "That's fine by Juvia. Juvia was just going to wait for Reedus-sensei to pair her up with someone anyway. Although Juvia has friends, they're the only friends Juvia has. Juvia is quite shy when it comes to other people."

She ducked her head and Ultear looked at her, wanting to coo and just shout out that her and Zancrow would make an extremely cute couple. That's right, Ultear was a sucker for romance. It was a shame Zancrow wasn't.

"So what kind of art is Ultear-san good at?"

"Please, call me Ultear. I like sculpting, but more with ice. I love making stuff out of ice, it's really beautiful."

"Ah, Juvia tried to take ice sculpting lessons, but she wasn't that great. Juvia's ex used to love to do it so he tried to get Juvia to do it one day and she was really bad at it. Instead, she just stuck to her water paints."

"Water paints? Man, I wish I could use those, they look incredible! The shading is just unreal and when there are good artists who can use water paints, it looked so 3d!" Ultear then paused when she remembered what Juvia said about the ice sculpting.

"Wait, did you go out with Gray?"

Juvia raised an eyebrow and nodded her head. "Yes, we dated for a while. How does Ultear know him?"

"Because my mother has two ice sculpting students and seeing as Lyon doesn't come to this school, I'm going to believe that it was Gray that you went out with." Ultear scowled internally. She could still remember the day Gray had broken up with his girlfriend and then told Ultear that they were now free to date, despite the fact that Ultear had told him time and time again that she doesn't like him. She didn't know it was Juvia he had gone and dumped.

" _Now I definitely have to get Zancrow and Juvia together."_

"Juvia was thinking if maybe we can do the ice sculpting first? Ultear does have that huge freezer in her house, right?"

"Yeah, I don't mind." Ultear smiled and her plan was already coming together. On Tuesdays, her friends hung out at her house. That would mean that Zancrow would be coming today.

"Would you like to start tonight?"

"Yeah, Juvia doesn't have anything to do!"

Ultear's smile turned into a huge grin. "Great."

~x~

Juvia sat at the lunch table alone as she waited for all her friends to arrive. She saw Lisanna paying for her food and Cana was directly behind her. Lucy, Levy and Natsu had all arrived to the hall and Gray and Gajeel were still somewhere to be seen.

"Heeeeey Juvia!"

Cana ruffled her hair and as she sat down, quickly groped her left boob, making Juvia laugh and swat her hand away. She had learnt that she couldn't cause a scene about it as much as it would just spur the girl on. Cana pouted.

"Where's the cute little screams of 'Cana, stop it. No, not there!'? You're no fun anymore."

Juvia laughed as Lisanna rolled her eyes at her friend. Her phone buzzed and she opened whatever the text was with a huge grin on her face. She typed back just as fast and set her phone down. Cana wiggled her eyebrows.

"What has loverboy said now?"

"That he's going to come and pick me up after school so that we can hang out." Lisanna then blushed at what Cana had just said. "We're not lovers! We're...just friends."

Juvia smiled, feeling happy for her friend. The others eventually sat at the table and it all got noisy and more messy around, especially when you throw Gajeel, Natsu and Gray into the mix. At one point, Gray managed to catch Juvia's eyes and he smiled at her, while she threw him a halfhearted smile back.

Cana nudged her friend and whispered to her, "he's been telling me of how much he wants to get back with you."

Juvia's head snapped up and she stared at Cana, the usually drunk girl. Cana nodded at her and Juvia shook her head. She had told herself that when she was dumped by a guy, that was it. Been there, done that sort of thing. She wasn't about to risk going through that hurt again.

"Well, no thanks is what Juvia says."

Gray and Cana were best friends, but even now, Cana couldn't support her best friend's decision on dumping Juvia for another girl who didn't even want him and when he couldn't get her, he wants to come back to Juvia. That was a stupid move.

"Okay, so my dad is out of town this weekend and I'm throwing a party for my birthday. Bring as many friends as you can is all I say."

Natsu's birthday was extremely close to the beginning of the year and it was usually seen as a back to school party. No one could top his parties and no one even tried to. If you couldn't go, you basically missed out on the best party of the year. Rumours started from there, babies were made from there, STDs started from there, the whole lot. Even the people from the years above tried to get into Natsu's project X party.

Cana snickered and fist bumped with Natsu from across the table. She was his supplier when it came to organising drinks for his party, Gajeel was in charge of the music playlist while Lisanna, Lucy and Levy were in charge of the decorating. Not like there was much decorating, it was just a way to make sure that things didn't get broken.

Juvia brought her juice up to her lips and already knew what friends she would be bringing to the party. Her eyes scanned the hall for the said people and she found them. They looked like they were having quite a bit of fun.

Zancrow then met her eyes and they stared at each other for what seemed to be eternity. She wanted to do nothing more than run up to him and tackle him and kiss him. She wanted him back in her life again, but he had a girlfriend? No, she couldn't put herself through it. She turned away from him and started talking to Gajeel instead.

Ultear saw the whole thing and frowned. She still didn't understand what was going on because Zancrow hadn't told her what he did. She knew it was him who did something because Juvia looked like she was so in love with him that she wanted to be by his side. Zancrow screwed a lot of things up, there's no doubt that he screwed his chances of finding a nice girl up.

~x~

"So you're going to Ultear's tonight then? Have fun then."

Juvia giggled as she pushed Lisanna away from her and into the direction of Sting. He smirked and Lisanna blushed.

Lisanna waved to Juvia who waved back and waited at the gates for Ultear. In the distance, she could see Zancrow's wild hair in the distance and she could imagine the smug smirk that he would wear on his lips without fail.

She looked around her for somewhere to hide, but she shook that thought out of her head. There was no hiding anymore. She wasn't in the wrong, she was one the one who was wronged. She will stand up in front of him and show him that he no longer affects her.

He finally came into view properly and they caught each other's eyes. She saw something flash in his orbs, almost like pain, sadness and regret before he looked away and headed out of the gates. Juvia released her breath and was glad he didn't try and make it awkward between them, but she was surprised. He didn't try to talk to her which was odd. He was always persistent. She knew Zancrow, he doesn't give up until he gets what he wants.

She then saw Ultear and she pushed all thoughts about Zancrow out of her mind. She noticed that Meredy was also with her and she sagged a little bit. Whenever she saw the cheerful girl, she would always feel really bad for being the whore that would have come in between her and Zancrow's relationship and she didn't want to be that person.

"Hey Juvia! Ultear told me that you guys are going to be partners on some art project you have to do! That is sooooo cool!"

Juvia smiled as they started walking out of the gates and down towards Ultear's house.

"Oh yeah, Juvia just remembered. Natsu is hosting his birthday party, as well as his yearly back to school one. It's this Saturday. Do you want to come?"

Meredy's face lit up even more. "You had me at 'party'! This is going to be so sweet, I hardly went to any during the summer. I was on holiday most of the time, so you can count me in. Also, there are rumours flying about the place that Natsu's party always goes out with a bang. He's the King of partying since the days of the Gildarts-sensei."

Juvia giggled and nodded her head. The stories of Gildarts partying days were about to get topped by Natsu. He thought the guy was a legend and always tried to be better than him.

"Yeah, I've heard that Natsu's parties are insane. To be able to go to one, I would have to be insane or dead to not attend. Count me in. Can the others come as well?" Ultear turned her head to Juvia, an even bigger plan forming in her head. This was so easy! It was like the universe itself wanted Zancrow and Juvia together and was just doing all these things to bring them together.

"Yeah, it's more or less an open invite, but Juvia just wanted to tell you guys herself."

The two other girls nodded as they got onto the bus. They didn't really live in this area, so they lived around 30 minutes away on the bus. That was just where Grimoire was.

"Juvia can't believe that those people used your school to push drugs."

"We can. Our school is seen as the bad school and in our area, that's where the closest gang all live. Of course they were ex-students and they know all the ins and outs of the school and started to deal in there. I'm not surprised at all."

Ultear shrugged her shoulders and it made Juvia remember her days back in Phantom High three years ago. The school was a bad one, but she moved out of there thankfully, but she shouldn't have been surprised when Grimoire had the same reputation. She used to live that rough school life for a few years.

Eventually they got to Ultear's and as soon as they got into the living room, Meredy threw herself onto the sofa. Juvia remembered coming here that one time she was forced to do ice sculpting with Gray. She hadn't liked it much because Gray was being so impatient with her, as though she was supposed to understand it straight away.

"Ultear? Did you come back with the rest of them?"

Ur was then stood in the doorway and Juvia's jaw almost dropped. She didn't know why she hadn't noticed it, but now that they stood next to each other, Ur and Ultear really looked the same. If Ur were any younger or Ultear any older, they could have easily passed off as twins.

"Oh hey Juvia! I see you've made friends with my daughter! Ultear, I've got the usual stuff on the table."

"Thanks mum. Oh yeah, as well as being friends, Juvia is here because we're doing an art project where we have to do the art of our partner's for two weeks and then theirs for two weeks after that."

Ur laughed a little. "Are you ready to meet your personal hell Juvia?"

Juvia rolled her eyes with a smile. Ur knew how much she hated ice sculpting. Well, she herself had witnessed first hand how Gray treated her and as much as she was fond of her student, she didn't agree with him in that sense. She always saw the times he tried to flirt with Ultear as well.

"Juvia thinks it should be fine this time. Ultear will be more patient than Gray anyway."

Ur didn't miss out on the fact that Juvia's add the -sama at the end of the name. She looked over at her daughter who had frozen a little bit before moving on with her actions. She put her bag down slowly and Ur couldn't help but wonder what had happened during the summer.

"Well, we're going to head into the main room now. The others will probably be here in like the next ten minutes or so."

Ur nodded her head as Meredy brought out to the main room. The other two headed in there as well.

"Okay, so I was thinking, we should draw out what we would like to do first before we jump straight into it. Maybe something smaller for you, not the main action stuff we do."

Juvia shrugged her shoulders, liking that idea. "So Juvia is guessing, something cliché, more like a Swan?"

"Oh man, swans are so easy! Yeah, I can get you doing that. Let me get a drawing pad."

Ultear got up to leave and get her sketch pad that was up in her room. That just left Meredy and Juvia, with the former flicking through channels on the TV and munching on the cookies that were left on the table.

"So Juvia, do you have a boyfriend?"

Juvia shook her head, the guilt rising up in her throat. She remembered telling Zancrow about her feelings two days prior and how she had basically told her boyfriend she loved him. God she felt so bad!

"No, Juvia has been single the whole summer. Gray broke up with Juvia at the beginning."

Meredy gasped as she turned to look at her. "No way! Wow, do you know why he broke up with you?"

"Juvia didn't know then and Juvia still doesn't know why now. It doesn't matter anyway, Juvia is done with him. Juvia chased him for so long to try and get his love and he didn't even want know Juvia. It wasn't until Lyon started showing interest in Juvia that he decided he wanted to Juvia himself."

"Ah, so he got jealous?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Juvia loved the attention and then we started dating."

Meredy reached over and rubbed the other girl's hand in a comforting manner. "Well, you're a nice girl, I'm sure you'll find someone. You know what! I have a friend you might just be good for! I'll work on setting you guys together!"

"Oh no, please don't. Juvia doesn't want to be in a relationship right in this moment in time."

She didn't say anything more because Ultear was back and she flopped down into the bean bag next to Juvia's seat.

"Meredy, Zancrow texted me, they'll be at the door in a few seconds."

"Okay!"

She jumped up to go and wait for them at the door and Ultear then looked up at Juvia who seemed to have frozen when she heard the name Zancrow. That was her time to strike. She knew that the others would start an argument at the door and it gave Ultear more than enough time to confront Juvia on the situation.

"So...you and Zancrow huh?"

Ultear couldn't help but notice the look of fear etched in on Juvia's face and she frowned, wondering why she was so scared that she knew. Was that an issue? Had Zancrow threatened her about if people found out about them both? He wasn't making things easier for himself!

"H-how did Ultear know?"

Oh, so she wasn't even going to deny it. That made things so easy!

"I saw you two one day and Meredy and I are the only female friends he has, so I figured that you two are going out. Do you like him?" She reached over and grabbed a cookie and watched as Juvia's facial expression turned from that of fear to confusion.

"Wait, Juvia doesn't understand. How can Ultear calmly ask Juvia if she has feelings for Zancrow, when he's going out with...wait, you and Meredy are only his FEMALE friends? Meredy too?"

"Are you deaf?" Ultear was now also confused. She didn't get what Juvia was saying because she was jumping from question to question and it made literally no sense whatsoever. It looked like she was going to have a harder time getting them together.

"It's just that Zancrow told Juvia..."

She trailed off when the others started making their way into the room and throwing themselves onto the bean bags splattered around the room. Zancrow hadn't noticed Juvia in the room at the time and sat in his usual seat-next to her.

Zancrow looked at the person that was sitting next to him and he came face to face with the wide eyed girl he had a fling with in the summer. They both stared at each other and Ultear watched them both as it looked like Zancrow was about to say something when Juvia just stood up and walked out of the room, claiming she needed to go to the toilet.

Ultear tried to click things into her head when she ran after Juvia. She threw an evil glare at Zancrow, showing that he wasn't about to get off the hook. "Wait Juvia, come here and finish what you were going to say to me!"

Juvia whirled round with tears in her eyes and Ultear stopped in surprise. She then came forward with a sigh. They had only met for two days and already she felt responsible for Zancrow's actions and that she had to comfort this girl.

"Zancrow told Juvia that he has a girlfriend! Juvia felt so betrayed, so HURT! Juvia has never in life wanted to be that sort of girl who's some guy's chick on the side, but here she was, being exactly that! Juvia didn't want to take another girl's boyfriend just because hers broke up with Juvia! Ultear must hate Juvia now!"

Ultear quickly ushered the girl out of the front door, thanking God that she had shut the door behind her as they left the living room. She closed the front door behind her as she sat the crying girl down on the stairs.

"I don't hate you, you didn't know. It was Zancrow's fault. Do you know who his girlfriend is?"

Juvia wiped her eyes and looked up at the other girl. "Well, yes? Juvia is confused, why is Ultear acting like she doesn't know?"

"Because I don't!"

"But Meredy is your best friend!"

"What does Mered-"

Ultear froze halfway through her sentence. It all made sense now. Zancrow used to have a big crush on Meredy when they had all first met and Meredy spent a good majority of her time telling him no. As crazy and merciless as the guy was, he had liked Meredy up until last year, totalling in to almost 4 years. Juvia flinched when she saw the anger on Ultear's face and she thought it was aimed at her.

"Juvia is sorry."

"What? Oh, I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at Zancrow for lying to you! Meredy and Zancrow aren't dating! I should give him a fucking piece of my fucking mind!"

Juvia jumped and shook her head while holding Ultear back and away from the door. "No please, don't say anything, Juvia doesn't want to even know why he lied to Juvia! Please, just don't!"

Ultear looked down at Juvia who was still crying but trying to make herself stop. She felt her heart reach out to her as she could see a little bit of Meredy within Juvia and it made her sigh. "Okay, FINE!"

Juvia smiled slightly before heading into the toilet to try and calm herself down. The two of them went back into the main room where Juvia sat down next to Zancrow as though nothing had happened. The blond didn't say anything as he looked over at Juvia when she decided to speak up.

"So um, Natsu-san is holding a party this Saturday and he said all are invited. Juvia wanted to invite you guys..."

"NATSU?! Aww, hell yeah, I've heard his parties are the ONE! There's no way I'm missing that for anyone or anything man! Count me in!"

Asuma fist bumped Kane who said he would come, obviously because the food is great. Meredy had already expressed her excitement and Zancrow didn't say anything. He just shut his eyes and that was about it. Juvia glanced at him before picking up the sketchpad to continue drawing the swans.

The others all started doing their own thing as they just lazed about and started talking about their own day, while Juvia then moved the drawing to the table. She knew the drawing didn't have to be perfect and in detail because they were going to make an ice sculpture out of it, but she wanted it to look nice.

After around 20 minutes of her drawing and erasing, She felt someone come and sit next to her. She ignored the person because she knew exactly who it was and he was the last person that she wanted to even be around right now. She knew his body heat like the back of her palm.

"Nice drawing."

She gently hummed as though to say that he wasn't welcomed sitting next to her. Her heart was ripping inside of her. To think that he lied to her about being in love with someone else, and now he has the cheek to come and sit next to her and act like everything was still okay?! She hated him.

Suddenly, her phone rang which saved her. She answered it and it was her mum asking her to get a few things for dinner on her way back. She put her phone away and ignored Zancrow as she got up to pass Ultear her drawing pad back. She needed the distraction and her mother provided her with the best one.

"Juvia has to get going, mother wants some stuff for dinner tonight. Juvia guesses she'll see you all tomorrow? It was nice having Juvia over, thank you."

Ultear took the book and waved her hand. "It's nothing really. I guess we have the next two weeks on this project. I'll see you out."

Juvia said goodbye to Ur on her way out as well and as soon as Ultear opened the door, she flashed an angry glare at Juvia. She was angry that Juvia didn't want to find out the answer to why Zancrow was lying to her. "If you don't confront him soon, I will. He won't get away with this."

Juvia couldn't understand why Ultear cared so much about it, but shrugged anyway. She was tired of the whole situation. It would be so easy if she were still in love with Gray.

"Okay. See you tomorrow."

As soon as Ultear shut the door, she went back into the room with all of her friends as she glared at the unknowing Zancrow.

* * *

So how was that chapter for the people who actually do read this lol. I hope it was okay and I will push out at least 2 more chapters this year for it lol. Can't believe this would be the 2nd year with no update! Time goes by too fast!

Please don't forget to rate or hate, flames or floods! I love you guys so stick a review in there!

Lolita-chan


	4. Chapter 4

Hey, Dark Gothic Lolita here

It has been just shy of 3 months since i last updated it and I am full of nothing but apologies! I really didn't think that this story would get that popular with people, but I've been getting a few reviews saying that I should update! So grateful for you guys enjoying it, I really am!

Disclaimers are boring

ENJOY!

* * *

 **After the hottest summer**

 **Chapter four**

As soon as Juvia walked into her form room, she was approached by Gray. She was actually surprised. They hadn't spoken since he broke up with her at the beginning of the summer which was three months ago. Now, here he was, standing in front of her desk, looking like he shot her puppy or something.

"Hey Juvia, how you been?"

She snorted in her mind, Zancrow's attitude and behaviour rubbing off on her more than she would like to admit. How has she been? Well for the first part of the break up, she was pretty terrible. Before Zancrow had suggested their little compromise, she had cried herself to sleep every night, looking in the mirror, wondering what was wrong with her and why she wasn't desirable.

Then she became better friends with Zancrow, and while the pain was still there, he made her forget when she was with him. He made her forget about all the little things that she thought was worthless and she started loving herself again. Maybe that was why she ended up falling in love with Zancrow. She would never know really.

Now, instead of being upset about Gray, she was upset about Zancrow. She looked him in the eye and told him the truth.

"Juvia was good, now? Not so much. Just a few um, friendship issues. But how has Gray been?"

"Me? I've been good."

He paused and the unsaid words of, 'but I miss you' hung dangerously in the air. Juvia ignored that feeling. She would never get back together with him, she was so over him now. He then continued, trying to make their conversation longer, even though Juvia didn't want to talk to him anymore.

"So, Ur told me that you're going to be doing some ice sculpture. I thought you hated it?"

"Oh, Juvia does, but Juvia is working with Ultear on an art project and we have to do each other's favourite form of art. Juvia will be making an ice sculpture with Ultear and she'll-"

"Make a water pastel painting with you. Pretty clever."

Juvia raised an eyebrow when she had noticed Gray's form go rigid when she had said Ultear's name. She dismissed the thought and looked at her phone for the time. Gray was still stood there, as though he was waiting for something and Juvia wanted to do nothing more than tell him he could leave now, but she wasn't that mean. She finally looked up from her phone.

"Is there something Gray wanted?"

He opened his mouth in shock as though he hadn't expected for her to ask him that question, but soon enough, he closed his mouth, shook his head and apologised before walking to his seat. Juvia just shook her head. If he wanted to get back with her, the answer was the biggest and fattest no she could ever say.

"I thought you would have taken him back!"

Cana was pouting playfully off at Juvia's right hand side before she snickered when Juvia hit her on her arm. The bluenette rolled her equally blue eyes before mumbling something along the lines of 'yeah right.'

"So anywayyyyy. I met this guy Zancrow yesterday and he is a _complete_ riot and he said he knew you. Is that true? How does Juvia Lockser, the number one Gray lover know a wild hottie like _that_?!"

Juvia blushed at the way Cana had chosen to describe him. She couldn't deny it and say that she was wrong because Zancrow is a wild hottie. That didn't mean that she wasn't going to lie though. She couldn't have people asking about what she really got up to in the summer, words spread fast around here.

"Oh, we spoke a few times when Juvia was lifeguarding. Juvia had to warn him many times that just because a kid pissed him off doesn't mean that they need to have a 'drowning' experience. Tried to convince Juvia that it was apart of the school curriculum that kids will never understand what it means to drown unless they had a mini experience with it."

Okay so she semi lied. She just left out the whole friends with benefits part, but Zancrow really did do all those things. It wasn't just to pre-teens who pissed him off, it was also to guys who openly ogled Juvia. It seemed he didn't like it when they did that, even though they meant nothing to each other.

Cana laughed at that, shaking her head. She was good friends with guys who were like that and Juvia couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. She knew she was feeling jealous, it was an emotion _she_ herself was very good friends with. She didn't know what she would do if Cana and Zancrow ended up having a fling of their own.

"Well from the way he spoke about you, I would have thought that there was more going on between you guys." She waggled her eyebrows suggestively at Juvia who turned a brighter shade of red. Juvia wanted to be angry, but she was embarrassed that she had just been outed so early on.

Cana laughed and flung her arm around her shoulders. "Now, now, there's no need to hide it from me! Tell Cana alllll about it! You know I keep info on the low low." Cana threw a wink at her blue haired friend who almost died at having to tell her her experience.

"Has he got a big dick?"

Juvia felt her soul leave her as she was squirming in Cana's arms. "Let Juvia GO Cana! That is just embarrassing to talk about! Besides, there's nothing between us...just nothing."

Cana was ready to try and bait her to tell her what happened, but when she heard the tone of her friend's voice, she stopped. Why did she feel so trodden on? She looked at Juvia deep into her eyes and the girl stared back, as though she had been caught out. Her eyes then fell to the ground and she sighed. She couldn't lie to Cana

"We were friends with benefits and Juvia broke the one rule when you have one."

"You fell in love?"

"With a guy who has a girlfriend, only it's a bit more complicated than that."

"Ouch. Here, drink your sorrows away."

Juvia giggled a little bit when Cana tried to pass on some whiskey over to her and she shook her head. "Maybe later, right now, we're in school."

Cana tried to push more of the beverage her way, saying that it was a lousy excuse, but the bell rang and Cana had to stuff her drink away before her father came in and saw what she roamed around the school with. Juvia just laughed and waved over at Lisanna who was on the other side of the classroom.

The bell rang, signalling the end of form time, Juvia and Cana waited for Lisanna so that they could make their way to history together. As Juvia was telling her best friends about her new found facts on Zancrow and that he actually lied about being in a relationship with Meredy, they could hear a lot of shouting down their history corridor. It seemed to be two guys fighting and the only question was, why this early in the morning? It was only first period!

Lisanna, Cana and Juvia ran towards their history class, wondering who Natsu would be fighting because hey, only Natsu would be fighting this early in the morning. Gray and Gajeel weren't in their class and no one else was strong enough for Natsu to bother looking at. They walked through the door, teachers and students trying to get them to stop, but no one was actually brave enough to get in between them.

Juvia rolled her eyes when she realised that they were both smirking. It wasn't anything malicious, they must have just both found out that they enjoying fighting or something. The teacher spotted Juvia and silently begged her to break up the fight. Next to Erza, Juvia was really the only the person who could stop brutal fights because 1, she came from Phantom Lord, a place where fighting was an everyday thing and 2, she has to stop the fights that Gajeel gets into, and no ordinary person can stop _those_ kind of fights.

Juvia sighed and rolled her eyes. "Hold this please, Lisa-chan."

Lisanna took her friend's bag and without even hesitating, Juvia walked into the middle of the fight, grabbing both their hands, and effectively stopping them from punching each other, as well as punching her. She looked at Natsu who was surprised, but then it wore off when he realised who it was, and then she looked at Zancrow who was just in pure shock. She removed her eyes from his immediately because she hated the way that he was staring at her.

She released both their hands, but Zancrow tugged at her hand, making her own eyes widen and she turned to stare at him. He made a face at her that she couldn't understand, but then the teacher was yelling her head off.

"BOTH OF YOU, HEAD DOWN TO MR DREYAR'S OFFICE THIS INSTANT!"

Natsu shrugged his shoulders with a huge grin and made his way out of the class quickly, and their teacher turned to face Juvia and Zancrow. "Juvia, please escort Zancrow to Mr Dreyar's office please. He doesn't know where it is and if he follows Natsu, they may both start another fight again." The woman rubbed at her face, wondering why this happened so early this morning and Juvia really wanted to tell the woman no, but she sighed and nodded her head.

"C'mon," she mumbled to him as everyone else took their seat to start their lesson. Juvia glanced at her friend who gave her a reassuring smile and she smiled back at her. It was just her luck that she was now going to get stuck with walking Zancrow to their headteacher's office. She hoped that they were going to be walking in silence, and at least the first 20 seconds, they did, until Zancrow decided to open his mouth.

"I'm sorry."

It made Juvia jump because she wasn't expecting it, but at the same time, his words shocked her more than anything. If you knew Zancrow, you would know him as the sort of person who never EVER says sorry. The word just wasn't in his vocabulary. If you told him to say sorry, he would give you this really confused look and ask 'why,' because he never saw himself in the wrong.

Juvia shrugged. "It's okay, Juvia is always having to stop fights it's okay-"

"Not about the dumbass fight. About us."

He reached out for her hand, effectively stopping her from walking. She bit her lip and looked down at the floor. He reached out, using his other hand to tilt her chin up, but she still looked at everywhere but him.

"Look at me...please..."

He was being so nice that it was shocking her and making her look at him. "Zancrow, Juvia needs to get you to the office."

"I know, I just want you to know that I'm really sorry."

Juvia shook her head and moved his hand. It was so hard when all she wanted to do was have that intimacy she once had with him. "It's okay, Juvia forgives you. If this is really bugging Zancrow, we can discuss this later, after school. Let's just go to Dreyar-sensei's office." She started walking away from him and Zancrow wanted to punch something. He had really fucked up.

~x~

Juvia couldn't get Zancrow's apology out of her head all day. She was quite scared to talk to him, she didn't know how the conversation would pan out. She just didn't want to hear the real reason why he shot her down like that so quickly after she told him that she liked him. It really hurt that he lied to her, but she was willing to hear him out.

She snorted, she was always willing to hear someone out. Was she really that desperate for love? How sad.

She waited by the gate as the bell other students all pushed past her, eager to get home or hang out with friends. She wasn't quite sure what she was waiting for. It's not like she told Zancrow she'll wait for him by the gate and knowing him, he probably has detention with Natsu.

"Hey, Juvia right?"

The girl jumped before turning to her left and spotting Sting looking at her with a smile. She smiled and nodded back. Sting and Lisanna were super cute together!

"Yes, and you're Sting. How are you?"

"I'm good! Really nervous though."

Juvia tilted her head and watched as he scratched the back of his head, looking vulnerable and adorable. He was no Zancrow, but at least he was hot.

"Oh, why is that? Did something happen?"

"No, not yet. Look, you're Lisanna's best friend right? Do you...do you know if she likes me? Because I really wanna ask her out, like I can actually see myself being with her and I just don't want to screw up the friendship that we have right now. She knows of my past, I was such a player, I don't want her to feel like I'm still like that and that she was just a summer thing."

He looked into Juvia's eyes and was met with a reassuring gaze.

"Then tell her. Lisanna does like you, but tell her what you told me and she will literally fall in love. She just likes an honest man. Even if you were to cheat on her, she would rather you told her straight away than a few years down the line. She'll forgive you instantly. Saying that though, doesn't mean she'll stay with you."

"I would never cheat on her."

"Good to hear, now here she comes!"

Juvia laughed when his face showed panic and he turned around to find that Lisanna was indeed approaching them. Her smile shined brightly when she saw Sting and all his worries melted away. Maybe Juvia wasn't lying, maybe she did like him back.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself."

Juvia decided that she was no longer needed there and when she turned around, she saw Ultear waiting behind her and she smacked her on her head, remembering their stupid art project.

"Juvia completely forgot! Sorry!"

"It's cool, you were just helping your friend get the guy she wanted, I can accept that. Wanna get going now?"

Juvia nodded, looking back and Lisanna and smiling. "Yeah sure, might as well get this ice sculpture finished as quickly as possible." She walked out of the school gates before remembering that she was supposed to be waiting for Zancrow so that they could talk. She looked back at the school building helplessly, as if wanting to tell Ultear she'll meet her another day when she heard the girl call out,

"He's got detention for another week. Don't worry about him."

Juvia went bright red and turned back around to find her smirking. "Is juvia really that obvious?"

"To me, yes. Anyone else, no."

Juvia nodded at that as they headed to hers. "Are the rest coming to yours?"

"If that's code for 'will Zancrow be coming later,' the answer is no. Honestly, I can see right through you Juvia, if you have a question about Zancrow, just ask me instead of beating around the bush. I don't bite."

Juvia laughed sheepishly at being caught out once again. "It's just that he apologized to Juvia. Zancrow has never done that before, it was so weird. He actually told Juvia that he was sorry and Juvia let him know that she forgave him. Maybe Zancrow has important reasons for doing what he did and Juvia was going to hear him out after school. Juvia guesses it can wait till tomorrow when she sees him again."

Ultear was very surprised. Zancrow and the word 'sorry' had never come up in the same sentence before, so it was honestly so weird hearing that he had apologized to her. She bit her lip when she heard that. Zancrow was really and truly in love with this girl. It made her sick when she thought back to how Gray had told her that he broke up with Juvia, just to be with her.

"Zancrow saying sorry? Wow, that is definitely something. Maybe we should transfer to here, Fairy Tail is making him a better person already. Or maybe it's you?"

"Juvia would say the school." She said it without a moment of hesitation making Ultear stare down at the shorter girl, wondering why she had said that. Juvia's face was blank as she just kept looking forward, knowing fully well that she was being stared at, but she couldn't bring herself to tell Ultear the problem. She was just plain Juvia, no one changed for her, hence why Gray ended up breaking up with her probably.

Ultear shrugged and just thought it would be better to leave it there and talk about something else.

~x~

"Juvia really doesn't understand how Ultear can do this!" Juvia really hated ice sculpting. It was horrible and cold and she scowled when it didn't go her way. Art was a subject that she was alright at, if she was drawing on a canvas or something, not chiseling away at some STUPID clump of ice. This was the only thing that she told Gray she openly hated that he did.

"It's family genetics. Runs through my veins." Ultear laughed at Juvia's annoyed expression. She had always been really good at sculpting, so she never got frustrated with it like Juvia is now. She hadn't seen anyone get this annoyed since Gray started back when they were kids.

Gray.

Ultear shook her head to stop herself from thinking about him. She didn't like him in that way then and she definitely didn't now, but she felt really guilty knowing that if she did like Gray, she would have been the cause of Juvia's heartache. At least she had Zancrow. That made Ultear adamant to get them together. Juvia was so cute and nice and as much as she hated to admit it, Zancrow deserved to have someone like Juvia in his life. Plus, he had became less of a douche when he met Juvia. The others didn't know of why he had changed, but when Ultear had seen them together in the shop, she soon understood why he changed.

Juvia wiped away the sweat that she had started to build on her forehead and looked over at Ultear. She looked distracted by her thoughts, but she was still quicker than Juvia in her work. That and she wasn't sweating as much as Juvia was.

Juvia took the silence as a time to think more on the whole situation with Zancrow. She couldn't get it out of her head, his apology. She really wanted to believe he was sorry and she did. She wanted him to explain what the hell was going on, why he lied to her and what he really felt.

 _Juvia made her way up Zancrow's stairs, careful to make sure that his parents were either not in, or they didn't see her. She didn't want to seem suspicious. That and Zancrow had given her her own key. She didn't want them assuming things._

 _It had been a month since she had lost her virginity to Zancrow, and as much as Gray still had a very big place in her heart, she didn't regret losing her virginity to Zancrow. She was glad she had saved herself for him and not Gray which always had her confused._

 _She didn't even knock and she entered his room, she just walked in. It wouldn't have mattered what state of dress he was in because Juvia had seen him naked many times and vice versa. That didn't mean that she no longer burst into flames every time she saw his body though._

 _He looked up from his phone as he was sitting on his bed, a bit surprised to see Juvia there before he smirked. Juvia blushed and averted her eyes. It's usually Zancrow who would call Juvia over, but seeing Juvia come to him was a shock._

" _If it isn't Blue. What can I do for you?"_

 _He threw his phone to the side as Juvia knelt down in between his legs. Zancrow's widened which in turn made Juvia smirk. The whole time they had fucked each other, Zancrow had never made her give him a blowjob, yet here she was, on her knees on her own accord as she started pulling down his tracksuit bottoms._

" _What's the special occasion?"_

 _Juvia shrugged as Zancrow lifted his hips up and she slowly guided the trousers down his legs and left them around his ankles._

" _Juvia's about to come on in a few days and she's noticed that she gets really horny around this time. Entertain Juvia."_

 _She could already see how hard he was through his boxers. She bit her lip, hoping that she knew what she was getting herself into. She stroked his through the boxers and smiled when he let out a low groan. That really got Juvia going._

 _She put a finger under Zancrow's chin which gained his attention. She planted a soft kiss on his lips which her hand slowly started to sneak it's way into her boxers and she grabbed his piece. Zancrow grumbled as he took a deep breath in and Juvia smiled as it stood to attention. She had never given oral in the time that they had been getting together, but Zancrow had never failed to perform oral on Juvia. She thought that it was her turn._

 _She licked the head tentatively, almost as though she were scared to continue, but she managed to go on when she felt his body go stiff and his eyelids droop down. She licked all around the shaft, as though to get a good taste and when she heard Zancrow breathing heavily, she engulfed his full length into her mouth. His eyes popped open and he stared down at her while she was having difficulty trying to take him all in._

 _She tried to make sure that her teeth didn't touch him because she had heard that that was a total no no to do. It was so hard! Her hand shot out and she fondled his ball sack and Zancrow groaned deeply._

" _You sure you ain't done this before?"_

 _Juvia didn't reply, but it gave her the confidence to suck harder and faster. She loved the control that she had over him, how he was the one who was practically putty in her hands. Well, mouth. She enjoyed it._

"You alright there Juvia?"

The girl jumped and turned her head to face Ultear. She blushed heavily, and nodded her head, while Ultear raised an eyebrow, wondering why she was acting so weird. Juvia cleared her throat and tried to control her blood flow away from her face.

"So, is there a special guy in Ultear-san's life? Seeing as she's so adamant to make sure that Juvia and Zancrow get together." Juvia giggled. She reminded her of Mira, Lisanna's older sister. She was just as aloof in personality, but they knew when people deserved to be together.

Juvia's question was met with silence, but when she turned her head, Ultear was staring into space, her cheeks rosy red and Juvia laughed, snapping her out of her daydream.

"My love life is none of your concern, now come on, let's do as much of this as we can today."

Juvia wanted to tell her that her love life was none of her concern either, but secretly, she was happy that Ultear was helping her out. She really did love Zancrow, and right now, she was the only person who could truly help with her predicament right now.

* * *

So, how was that? Was it okay? I hope you guys enjoyed it! I also want you to know, this story won't be very long, it's just a kind of short one, based on probably the first week of school. Just taking a snapshot out of that time frame. It's just something that I've always wanted to try. (I mean, I've watched a full on movie based on just one day. Writing about just a week's worth of school seems pretty realistic)

So please don't forget to rate or hate, flames or floods! To you few cuties reading this, I thank you so much!

Lolita-chan


	5. Chapter 5

Hey, Dark Gothic Lolita here!

I know that you guys must be _pretty_ excited that I've finally updated this story! I just wanted to say that you should blame it all on writer's block! That pesky state of mind wouldn't let me update this little gem! I know that a lot of people have been wondering what I was going to update this story, and here it is, ready to be read!

Disclaimers are boring, apologies for poor grammar and spelling!

ENJOY!

* * *

 **After the hottest summer**

 **Chapter five**

Everyone was literally buzzing with excitement the whole day at school. Natsu's party was tomorrow and they couldn't wait for what crazy thing was going to happen this year. With school kids from Grimoire, it was definitely going to be wild.

"Can't wait to try out my new mixes man! I learnt the BEST punches ever and it would be a shame if I didn't share the best ever drinks to get everyone fucked."

Cana was literally daydreaming about the drinks she was going to make for the party and Evergreen snickered.

"Maybe the party will attract your mystery man."

Cana scowled at her best friend before shrugging as if she realised that it was true.

"And I'm djing. My dad taught me a few things, so I thought I might as well try it out."

"Yeah, as long as you don't sing, metal face."

Gajeel turned to face Gray with a frown on his face. "I will fuck you up!"

"No you won't Gajeel! He's not worth going to detention for."

"Levy!"

"Gihihihi."

Juvia shook her head at all her friend's behaviours and smiled fondly. She hadn't been able to speak to Zancrow like they had planned, but she saw it as a kind of blessing. She didn't know what she was supposed to say if they had seen each other face to face. She also didn't know if she was ready to hear his explanation as to why he lied to her.

She sighed. She could probably avoid him all day and all of tomorrow but she knew that her luck would get her caught at the party. She turned her head to look at the table where Zancrow sat and she noticed him hunched over his food, not paying attention to what was being said around him.

Juvia frowned. Zancrow was always the life of the party, why wasn't he joining in? Was he okay? Why wasn't anyone noticing how down he looked?

At that moment, his head lifted up at his eyes immediately caught hers, almost as if he knew that she was staring at him. His crimson eyes stared and Juvia was reminded why she fell in love with him in the first place, but there seemed to be an emotion that she had never seen behind his eyes before.

Pain.

She didn't look away, she couldn't. She was captivated and she wanted to prove to him that she was always there to talk if he ever needed someone to talk to. She gave him a soft look to reassure him that they were going to talk and she saw a bit of life light up in his eyes before he looked away.

Juvia looked away as well and saws Lisanna staring at her with a knowing smile. Juvia blushed and rolled her eyes at her friend and carried on eating. To know that she at least still had a place in Zancrow's heart, it was refreshing to know.

"I saw that."

"Juvia knows that Lisanna saw that. Hey, how was last night with Sting?"

Juvia successfully flipped the conversation because soon enough, Lisanna was a hot mess. She forgot about taunting Juvia and started stuttering instead.

"W-well, you k-know. We got to talking a-and, we're going out now!"

Juvia beamed at her glowing friend as they both squealed and hugged each other. Juvia was happy that Lisanna finally got the guy that she wanted. She knew that Lisanna had liked Natsu for a long time, but he didn't like her in that way and now she finally got the guy who does like her!

"That's wonderful news, Lisanna-chan!"

"Thanks! I also know that you said something to push him towards confessing and I want to thank you for that as well. I guess the both of us would just be still tiptoeing around each other, wondering if the other likes the other."

"Aww, Juvia didn't do much at all, this is all on you guys!"

Lisanna giggled and shook her head. "Oh please, we know that's not true! Anyway, because you helped me, I'm gonna help you, ain't that right, Ultear?"

Juvia practically paled when she turned her head to see Ultear sitting next to her, looking like a beautiful nightmare. Juvia hadn't even heard her walking towards them, talk less of sitting in the empty seat next to her all of a sudden. She turned her head around to see Lisanna's grin had grown larger.

"Juvia doesn't know what you're talking about."

Ultear snorted, which in turn made Lisanna snicker. "If that were true, then why did I notice you and Zancrow having a little moment when I was talking to Meredy? Or you thought I wouldn't notice that?"

Juvia opened her mouth to argue, but she then snapped it shut and huffed with her arms folded over.

"Juvia doesn't seem to understand why her love life is so important right now. No one seemed to care before, what makes it so different now?"

Lisanna answered that question. "That was because you were going out with Gray before, you didn't need any help. Speaking of which, you were so vocal when you were chasing after him, what happened? Why aren't you the same way with Zancrow?"

Juvia sighed. "That's because he was actually Juvia's boyfriend. We were not in a fuck buddies situation, making it easier. Besides, Juvia did tell Zancrow how she felt, he then told her that he has a girlfriend which has already been revealed that it's not true."

The other two girls nodded at her, as if they understood. Ultear was about to speak up, but she was soon cut off by the sound of someone talking. The three girls turned their heads.

"Hey Juvia, I didn't know you knew Ultear."

Juvia noticed Ultear stiffen, and she really wanted to know why. She had seen her do that a few times when Gray was mentioned, or when she found out that it was Juvia who was dating Gray. She couldn't help but have a bad feeling about it. She was watching her ex out of the corner of her eye and saw that Gray's eyes were lingering on Ultear's form a little longer than he should have before looking at her. There was definitely something going on.

"Well, Juvia does. Did Gray want something, or can he not see that we're having some girl talk over here?"

Gray blinked in astonishment at Juvia's words. He was shocked that Juvia would talk like that to him. He was so used to her talking to him as if he were some sort of god that could do no wrong, but that had all changed now. He saw Lisanna out of the corner of his eyes smack a hand to her mouth and he wasn't sure whether it was due to her trying to stop herself from laughing, or if she was just as shocked as he was.

"Yeah, we're trying to get Juvia back out there with the guy she likes. Need to build her confidence back up, seeing as when she got dumped, it all just flushed out of her system.

Juvia's face burned in embarrassment. Ultear sounded so spiteful when she was talking to Gray and she could see her ex-boyfriend looked like he wanted to collapse in shock. After all, they didn't break up on the best of terms, so for him to hear that she had moved on must have hit him in some way.

He then shrugged and tried to pass it off as if it were nothing, but he still stuttered on the first word that he mumbled. "O-oh? Juvia has a guy she...likes?"

Juvia's face burned once more, but this time, it was from anger. What, did he still think that she would be hung up on him, just because she was obsessed with him once before? Did he think that he still meant that much to her after the way he broke her heart? Sure she had Zancrow to fill in some sort of void, but when she was by herself, left to her own thoughts, she couldn't help but wonder what it was that made her so undesirable. He knew she had insecurities and when she looked back at their relationship, he hadn't done anything to help.

Ultear being in her own state of anger, pretty much voiced what Juvia was thinking.

"Yes, she does, or did you think that she was going to come crawling back to you at the snap of your fingers? I don't think so. So yes, there is another guy that Juvia has her eyes on and no, we're not telling you, because guess what? It's none of your business!"

At this point in time, Ultear's voice was raised and Juvia had never seen the usually calm girl so worked up. Did she hate Gray or something? She knew that they were family friends, so maybe he had done something in the past to piss her off.

"Everything alright here?"

Zancrow was standing behind Gray as the blonde frowned. He had heard Ultear shouting, and that never happened. When he saw that Gray was the cause of it, he had to get up and protect his friends, especially because he also saw Juvia at the table. He wasn't sure what was going on here, but it almost looked as if he wanted to get back with Juvia. Dread flooded his system because he knew damn well that he didn't want Juvia back in Gray's arms.

Gray turned around to find the red eyed teen staring at him, almost as if he were challenging him to a fight. Gray would have gladly accepted, but Zancrow looked wild. While Natsu was unpredictable, he had no true malicious intent in his body, hence why it was always so easy for them to fight. Zancrow however, reminded him of Gajeel. He looked brutal and probably wouldn't stop pounding your face in until you had passed out and he had beaten you up to the point where your own parents wouldn't be able to recognise you.

"Yeah, Gray was just leaving."

Gray looked almost defeated as he looked over at Lisanna who muttered the final words. She was shaking her head, almost as if she were playing peacemaker, but at the same time he couldn't help but think that she too was pissed off at him. He knew that Ultear was still angry at him, but he thought she had calmed down. And Juvia? Oh she looked so hurt behind her mask of anger. He sighed in defeat.

"Okay, okay, I know when I'm not wanted. I'm sorry."

He moved around Zancrow and that was when the three girls realised that the whole table had heard the whole ordeal. Juvia shook her head when everyone looked at her. She didn't want or need their sympathy, she was fine.

"Juvia's going."

She grabbed up her empty tray and went to go and leave it on the trolley. She was already exhausted with the whole day. She couldn't wait to just go to sleep and then go to the party tomorrow. When she looked back over at the table, Zancrow's eyes were on hers, almost as if to confirm that she was okay. She gave him a gentle smile and nodded before leaving the room.

"Juvia, wait up!"

She saw the two girls running after her and she stopped to wait for them. Lisanna being a trackstar didn't even pant and Ultear wasn't doing the same.

"I have something to tell you both. I want to tell you now so that you don't find out in an awkward way and hate me."

Juvia frowned. "Go on."

For once, Ultear looked worried and not like her confident self. The two girls waited for her.

"I know the reason why Gray broke up with you and I'm the reason. Wait for me to finish! Please!" She had seen them about to interrupt, but there was no glaring, which she was thankful for.

"Gray always flirted with me and I always expressed that I had no interest in him. Then he said he was dating someone and I was happy that he finally got off my case. I have someone else that I liked, not like he knew and it wasn't any of his business. He always asked me if I was jealous that he was dating another girl and I always said no. He made me sick. Then all of a sudden, one day in the summer, he told me that he had broken up with his girlfriend to be with me and my reaction was to slap him."

There was silence after Ultear had explained the story and she heard both girls sigh simultaneously. Juvia sighed as if she were expecting for there to be another girl and Lisanna sighed at his stupidity.

"Gray...He never mentioned Juvia's name, did he?"

Ultear shook her head and Lisanna shook her head in exasperation. "All the more to get you and Zancrow together then, aye? Gray can't have it all, we've got to show him what he's missed out on. We're going to bring out your hotness tomorrow!"

Juvia blinked at her friend who was giving her a devilish look and when she turned to face Ultear, she found that she was giving her the same look.

"Oh no."

Lisanna cackled and Juvia instantly remembered that she is the younger sister of MiraJane Strauss, a girl who struck fear into many people's hearts. She was even crazier when they were younger, but she had matured the older she had gotten. That didn't mean that she wasn't still hiding some of it within her and it had seemed that it had rubbed off on Lisanna.

"Oh yes."

* * *

Juvia's cheeks were glowing with a red colour and she kept tugging down at the dress, as if it would make it longer all of a sudden. Lisanna slapped her hands away as Ultear was fixing up her hair. Meredy giggled in the background. They had all gone shopping in the day for all of their outfits and Juvia had no say in what the girls all bought for her. She just had to do as they said.

"Stop touching it, it makes your legs look long and your arse is _great_! I don't know why you don't show yourself off more!"

"Because nobody liked Juvia at Phantom. Just a habit."

Lisanna hummed and squeezed her friend's hand as if to tell her that she is no longer in a school where she was bullied and had to fight and get stronger everyday to gain respect and get them all to leave her alone. That's how she met Gajeel.

"Did I hear that right?! You went to Phantom Lord High?!"

Meredy's eyes bulged out of her head as she stared at Juvia, her mouth hanging open. Even Ultear was looking down with some sort of pride in her eyes, almost as if she admired Juvia's strength. Juvia nodded her head with a sigh.

"Juvia and Gajeel were there for 3 years and because we were close, Juvia's parents told Gajeel's parents to move us both out of there."

Ultear snorted. "Our school is bad, sure, but I heard that Phantom was a riot. People fought till they saw blood. Or Kami."

Juvia giggled and shook her head. "Riot is a nice way to put it, it was more of a jungle. It's going through a bit of a change the last Juvia heard. The last headteacher got fired so Juvia thinks that they've changed. Oh well, Juvia left the school as Queen of the jungle."

They all heard a sense of pride as she said her former title and they all sweatdropped. "And pray tell, what does that mean?"

"Juvia left there as the strongest girl, three years running. Gajeel-kun of course was King of the jungle. We had annual fights there to show our strength and whoever was the last girl and boy standing meant that you were King and Queen of the jungle. We didn't need a prom, so we fought it out instead."

Ultear let out a low whistle as she grabbed up the mirror. Juvia gasped in surprise. She had no idea that she had the capacity to look so attractive. She had always seen herself as rather plain, so she never bothered trying to make herself look better.

"Juvia...looks really good!"

"Of course you do, I did your make up and Ultear did your hair! Either way, you look good without it, but you're a stunner." Meredy beamed at the girl as they all admired their handy work.

Juvia blushed heavily as they all stood up, looking at the time. "Great, it's currently 8:30, so we should get there in like 10 minutes. Fashionably late is always the great way."

They all giggled and nodded as Juvia's mum had offered to drive them all there and she gave Juvia some money for the cab home.

They got dropped off outside the house and Juvia waved to her mum who was reminding them about drinking moderately and never doing drugs and to stay safe. She kissed her on the cheek before they were met with the loudest house in the world.

There were lights everywhere and it looked like he had pyro going off every so often. The music was blaring obnoxiously as there were already loads of people milling inside and outside of the house. Meredy and Lisanna's eyes lit up and Ultear smirked at the scene while Juvia was wondering why there were loads of guys staring at her.

They pushed on forwards so that they could get inside of the house and Juvia's wrist was suddenly grabbed. She looked up and scowled, realising it was her ex, Bora.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Juvia. Trying to catch my attention? Because it's working."

Juvia didn't even hide her disgust as she could smell the vodka on his breath. She grabbed her wrist away from him and glared at him as she followed her friends into the house. She could hear Bora hollering at her, but all the words were jumbled up and she wasn't even paying attention anyway. She couldn't believe that she had dated such a jackass like him and just looking at him was a painful reminder of how dumb and desperate for love she had always been.

As soon as she stepped through the threshold of the house, the bass thumped right through Juvia's chest as there was nothing but loud music, the smell of booze and the sounds of teenagers having drunken fun. Juvia smiled slightly. As much as it wasn't really her scene, she did always look forward to Natsu's parties. It was the only time she really let loose.

"Come on, let's get a drink!"

Meredy grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the kitchen as Ultear and Lisanna followed close by to make sure that the pink haired girl didn't do anything wild.

"Lisanna!"

The four girls turned around and Lisanna's face burned a bright red shade as she soon pulled away from the group and ended up in his arms. Sting was right there, his arms wrapped around his new girlfriend as they beamed at each other. Lisanna kissed his cheek and said a few words into his ears and he chuckled. Lisanna looked back at her friends as if to apologize that she was going to leave them, but they all put their thumbs up and winked at her as she giggled and moved to the main room with her blonde haired man.

The other three carried on with their journey to the kitchen where the music couldn't reach as much, so they could all hear each other perfectly well.

"Jooovia, y'finally gonna 'ave that driink?!"

There she was, the master drinker right where she belonged: in the kitchen manning all the alcoholic drinks like a bartender. Her face was flustered as she shook a cup of whatever she had made at Juvia with a smirk on her face. Juvia remembered that she had basically promised Cana she would have a drink, as long as it wasn't in school.

Juvia laughed and shrugged her shoulders as she took the drink without any arguments. "Yes, Juvia is here for a drink. Can Cana get two more as well please?"

Cana beamed and nodded her head quickly, happy to be dishing out more drinks for people. She handed them off to Ultear and Meredy.

"Cana here is the master at mixing drinks. She knows how to make drinks and not make it taste like it's laced with alcohol, meaning you get pretty drunk because you would think it's just juice."

They all sipped on their drinks, their eyes wide at the sweet taste it gave and they almost gulped it down, had they not remembered what Juvia had told them. Oh yeah, they wouldn't remember the night at all if they drank like that.

"I wonder where the others are, they said they would be here."

Ultear had her phone out as she was messaging whatever guy she was messaging from their friendship group. Juvia blushed when she thought about Zancrow and how she was probably messaging him, but she didn't want to think so hopeful like that.

"Ugh, Asuma said that they stopped for food because Kane is hungry. Let's go and dance in the main room instead..."

Ultear's voice trailed off and she was staring off into the distance. Juvia raised an eyebrow at her weird behaviour and glanced over at Meredy, who had then glanced at her. They then looked in the direction that Ultear was looking in and Juvia still didn't understand what was going on. All she could see was a blue haired guy standing there, talking with a few friend. She heard Meredy squeal to her left.

"It looks like Siegrain came home from his apprenticeship!"

Juvia was stumped now. "Siegrain? Isn't that Jellal?"

Ultear shook her head violently, her face going bright red. Clearly she liked this guy, but why was she telling her that he wasn't Jellal, when he was clearly Jellal?

"He's Jellal's older brother, only older by a year. They have an older brother who is three years older than Siegrain. They all look _very_ alike that they could pass off as triplets. I know the difference though and that, is Siegrain."

"The guy she liiiiikes!"

"Meredy!"

Juvia was in shock as her mouth was in the shape of a cute little 'o'. Never had she seen Ultear look so girly, even though they had only been friends for the last week. She got the impression that the girl was a perfectionist with little tolerance to childish attitudes, much like Erza. Huh, what was up with all these hardass women liking the Fernandes family? She wondered what kind of hardass woman liked their eldest brother.

"Oh my kami, he's coming this way. He's seen me."

Ultear looked like she was going to be sick as she put her empty cup down. She sent a frantic look of help to Meredy who shrugged her shoulders helplessly. Juvia huffed a little bit and held the girl by her shoulders.

"Siegrain clearly likes Ultear-chan, so suck it up and face him! Don't cower away, that's not the Ultear that Juvia knows! Now, go and meet him halfway. Juvia doesn't want to hear any excuses. Ultear has helped Juvia so much, so now it's Juvia's turn. _GO!_ "

Both girls blinked before Ultear nodded and accepted with a small smile. She walked over to the advancing Siegrain who grinned even wider now that he had seen her coming towards him. Juvia and Meredy clasped their hands together as they watched Ultear interact with the guy she liked.

"Ultear! Fancy seeing you here, you alright?"

He wrapped an arm around her curvaceous frame and she blushed when she hugged him back, nodding her head.

"Yeah, a few complications with our school, you can probably find it in the local newspaper or something. Juvia over there invited me to the party. I didn't know you were back in town."

"Yeah, I finished my placement at the business firm and I'm thinking of joining the local council. I don't know why, don't ask. Maybe because they're also gonna pay for me to go to university."

They both chuckled and Siegrain looked down at Ultear. She looked back up at him through her long eyelashes and couldn't help but feel her cheeks go a nice rosey colour.

"I missed you so much, Ultear. I've been meaning to say this but every time I build up the courage to, I just get scared. Being away from you for so long and not seeing you, well I guess I had to say something this time."

He looked down at her, his expression looking hopeful, as if she might say something back. She looked up at him, her mouth wide open as she stared at him in shock. He chuckled at her reaction which snapped her back to reality. She wrapped her arms around herself as she looked at the ground, taking a step back. Siegrain stopped his chuckle and looked a little hurt.

"But what about Erza? I used to see you guys hanging out a lot and I thought that you liked her instead..."

Siegrain frowned, wondering when the hell he used to hang out with Erza and then it suddenly clicked in his head. He put his hand over his heart as he let out a breathy sigh of relief and laughed a little. Ultear raised an eyebrow, still holding her arms around herself. Did he think this was some sort of joke?

"It's not funny."

"You're right, it's not. If I had known that helping out Jellal would have made us two not go out, I never would have helped him."

"Huh?"

"Jellal. As much as he's a cocky little shit, he was _terrified_ at asking out Erza. So I told him that I would befriend her and find out as much information as I possibly could to see if she liked him back. I didn't realise that all the times you saw us, you thought I was on a _date_ with _Erza._ Ugh, never. She's so overbearing." He rolled his eyes thinking about all the times they hung out. He only endured it for his brother.

Ultear stared at him before she started giggling. She stepped forward towards him and Siegrain smiled as she did so, putting an arm around her waist. She blushed a little as she looked up at him.

"So I'm guessing that you like me back too?"

Ultear nodded her head as she saw Meredy and Juvia give her a thumbs up out of the corner of her eye. "Of course I do."

Juvia clasped her hands together along with Meredy who was extremely happy to see her friend finally get the guy of her dreams. Meredy then turned to Juvia with a huge grin on her face as she was handed another two drinks by Cana who was grinning maniacally.

"And then there were two! Come on, let's down these two drinks and head back to the main room to dance!"

Juvia wanted to shake her head and say no. She needed to find Zancrow, but so far, he wasn't here yet and she didn't have a reason to say no. Besides, if she stayed in the kitchen with Cana, there's a 100% chance that she wasn't going to remember this night and then finding Zancrow wouldn't happen, or worse, he would find her absolutely wasted.

"Okay, sure!"

They knocked back the drinks as if it were water and they held each other's hands before maneuvering themselves through the crowds of bodies. Some people moved out of their way, some bumped into them and some they had pretend to dance and shimmy with them to get them to move. The music got louder and louder until they were in the same room as the pounding speakers. Juvia saw her best male friend taking control of the speakers as Levy was stood next to him as if she were learning what he does.

When Juvia turned back to look at Meredy, her eyes widened and her face was a little flustered. Meredy was looking sexy as she shook her her hips all around the place. At first she was stood up tall and then she moved downwards for a slut drop. There were loads of whistles from boys and girls alike and Juvia felt like she wanted to explode from embarrassment.

"Come on Juvia, don't leave me dancing by myself!"

"But Juvia can't do what Meredy just did!" " _At least not in public,"_ she added in her head.

Meredy didn't seem to hear as she grabbed Juvia by her hips and turned her around. The bluenette was now full on blushing and she wished that she was a lightweight. Maybe if she had gotten drunk on Cana's drinks, she would be able to do this without fear.

"Come on, you've wide bearing hips, use them girl!"

Juvia sighed and decided that she would just get it over and done with. Pretty much everyone was drunk already, and with the night still being young, hardly anyone was going to remember this night. She didn't mind it.

She gyrated her hips on Meredy's as she closed her eyes and felt the beat pulse through her. She whined and bucked her hips and there was more whistling as every guy's head was literally turning to get a better look.

"Is that Juvia?!"

"Woooow, I never knew she was so HOT!"

"I always thought that she was a weirdo stalker!"

"Might have to get me a piece of that, didn't her and Gray break up?"

Juvia felt a smirk crawl up on her lips. She never knew that just a simple little dance would make men fall under her spell. It was quite exciting to know that _she_ did that to them. Meredy ran her hand up Juvia's thigh as if to tease the guys a little bit more and then hooted even louder before Meredy and Juvia pulled apart giggling at the crowd that they had gained.

Suddenly, someone yanked on her arm hard and she was getting dragged through the crowd. She looked forward and saw nothing but dark hair and she immediately knew who it was. She tried to pull back her hand and he just held on even stronger as he navigated them to the garden.

"Gray! Let go of Juvia!"

He didn't even acknowledge that he could hear her until he slammed open the door and threw Juvia in front of him. There was still a lot of people in the garden as well, but they were all smoking and the music sounded like a lifetime away.

She looked into the face of her ex-boyfriend and he looked like he was fuming, but at this moment in time, so was she.

"What the hell was that all about in there, huh?"

"Does Gray mean the part where Juvia was dancing with Meredy? Er, maybe it was _dancing_?!"

Gray growled and ran his hand through his hair, pacing about in front of her. "Yeah, but _you_ don't dance like _that_! You're Juvia!|"

Juvia stood still as she watched him and his eyes grew big, realising the mistake that he had made when he said that one line. He stepped forward to grab Juvia's hand but she just stepped away from him, her anger reaching new heights.

"Don't even touch me, Fullbuster. What the hell is that supposed to mean, huh? That because I'm Juvia, I can't look remotely sexy? Or that I was always supposed to be your number one fan? Oh, I've got a better one, maybe because even though you broke up with me, I was supposed to want you back the moment you wanted me back right?"

Gray's mouth just opened and closed with no sound coming out of it. Juvia chuckled a little bit, crossing her arms and stepping close to look him in the face with a glare on hers.

"Ultear told me what happened between you and her. Just because she didn't like you, you thought that I would still be here, waiting for you? You treated me like dirt before we even got together, always leading me on. I should have listened to everyone to stop chasing you back then, but I didn't. I am not making that mistake of ever getting back with you, so read my lips Fullbuster. Leave. Me. Alone."

As she pushed past him, in one more desperate attempt, he grabbed for her hand and when she was about to scream at him again, his lips latched onto his. Without a moment's hesitation, Juvia raised up her fist to swing as his face, but it would seem that someone else beat her to it, because Gray fell to the floor before she could even make a connection.

Standing in front of her was her blonde haired hot mess as his red eyes glared into the dark haired idiot on the floor.

"Preeeetty sure she said to leave her alone."

Juvia's heart fluttered at the sight of Zancrow who wore dark jeans and a t-shirt with black vans on his feet. His red eyes looked like they were spinning around in anger and Juvia found him so attractive. Gray groaned as he looked up at the person who had just punched him. He frowned and glared at him as he stood up, his fists clenched at his side.

"Why the hell are you here again?"

Zancrow glanced at Juvia who was just staring at him, as if she forgot that Gray was there. He smirked and turned his attention back to Gray, frowning. "You made a pass at my girl who has told you to stop bothering her. That punch was just a warning."

Gray's jaw dropped as he turned to Juvia who wasn't even focusing her attention on him. "Tell me it isn't true. How the hell do you know someone from _Grimoire_?"

Juvia sighed. "Again with the questions, Juvia just doesn't understand why everything is a shock to Gray. Just get lost, we're done here."

Juvia held Zancrow's outstretched hand who looked grateful that she had accepted him as they moved to a more secluded part of the garden. Some people had been watching them to see if a fight would break out. When they had all been disappointed, they all went back to the conversations that they had been having.

As soon as the pair got to a quiet area where it was just the two of them, Juvia jumped into Zancrow's arms. He hadn't expected the action and almost fell to the ground, but he quickly wrapped his arms around her and held his ground. Juvia could feel the tears prickling at her eyes, but she didn't let them fall.

"Thank you for being there, Zancrow."

He buried his nose in her hair and breathed in deep, smelling the mango and papaya shampoo that she loved to use. He felt like he belonged here with her.

"It's okay. You didn't really need my help, I saw you were ready to punch him, but I was already slamming him to the ground."

She pulled away from the hug and stared up into his face. Their conversation was long overdue and Zancrow knew that. He sat down on the bench and Juvia sat down next to him soon enough. They sat there in silence for a little while before Juvia grabbed Zancrow's hand and placed it in her own. He looked down at her.

"It's just the two of us and Juvia is willing to listen, just...talk..."

Zancrow sighed and nodded. "I...I'm not worthy of any love. I don't deserve you, I don't deserve anyone..."

Juvia frowned and squeezed his hand tighter. "Who told you that?"

"Pretty much everyone around me. My parents, people at school back when I was younger and even Meredy."

Juvia kept silent as she moved closer to him so that her body was up against his, waiting for him to explain.

"I used to have a crush on Meredy when I first met her, but she was this ice queen as she tried to copy everything Ultear did. When I asked her out, she laughed and said that I wasn't worth her love. She didn't like weak people. I used to be this weedy kid who people used to try and bully, so when Meredy told me that, I changed. I closed off my heart, only having one night stands and fought to be stronger. I wasn't going to have anyone make a fool of me again. My parents wanted a strong kid so that I could grow up and take over the family business. They were disappointed that I was so weak too.

"Subconsciously though, I still liked Meredy and everything I was doing was to impress her. How we all became friends was because we were all stuck in the same detention one day and Ultear was the one delivering our punishment, seeing as she was the class president. Pretty much have all been hanging out since then and that was like four years ago."

"So why did Zancrow push Juvia away then?"

"I don't know. Where I had seen you with Gray come into the restaurant like every weekend, I just got used to seeing you. You were so beautiful, hotter than Meredy, but you were always so wrapped up in Gray. Then when he broke up with you and we started hanging out, I had to make sure that I wasn't going to get hurt, but I still needed you in my life. So when you told me you loved me...I panicked. I didn't deserve your love."

He went silent and Juvia looked over at him. In front of her, the face of a crazy, reckless boy had been replaced by that of a scared and timid boy. She could understand where he was coming from, due to her being left out as a kid and then bullied in Phantom Lord, when she moved to fairy Tail, she was over the top and drank in every bit of attention she got. Zancrow was pretty much the opposite.

"Juvia thanks Zancrow for telling Juvia that, but there's no need to worry. Juvia is here to stay. It's not like Juvia's childhood life was all rainbows and sunshines, and in Phantom Lord, Juvia became the gloomy Queen of the jungle."

Zancrow's eyes lit up in what seemed to admiration, but Juvia couldn't quite tell. She hadn't really told him of her life before Fairy Tail, so he probably assumed that she was always at Fairy Tail, when really she went to a school that was almost as bad as his, nicknamed the 'jungle.'

"You're the gloomy Queen? As in your reign lasted for three years before you mysteriously disappeared?"

Juvia nodded her head as Zancrow grinned at her. "So that's why you were able to catch mine and Dragneel's punch that day without getting hurt. I didn't know you were the Queen of the jungle. That's so cool."

"Yeah, it was. But Juvia only got that title to keep others away from her. Juvia didn't have any friends apart from Gajeel and so in order to not feel depressed that everyone hated Juvia, Juvia became stronger and that made people stay away from her. At least she was feared instead of bullied. Then Juvia moved to Fairy Tail and the rest is pretty much history."

Zancrow laughed and shook his head, scooting a little closer to her and she beamed up at him when she realised that he was now sitting closer to her. "Nah, you're more like a living legend. To be queen of the jungle three years in a row? You're definitely strong."

Juvia hummed as she stared up into his red eyes. He looked down at her and his hand unconsciously moved a strand of her blue hair out of her face, before he cupped her cheek. Juvia's breath hitched in her throat and she bit her bottom lip, hoping that he would kiss her. He leaned forward and captured her lips softly, almost as though he couldn't believe that she was still here with him.

Juvia's heart and stomach was exploding. It had been so long, almost as week since she had last kissed him and she didn't realise how much she actually missed him. She grabbed the front of his shirt and moved herself forward so that she was now sitting on his lap. Zancrow moved his other hand to her waist and wrapped it around her so that her chest was up against his. Juvia squeaked at the movement and he used that time to slip his tongue into her open mouth.

Juvia moaned lightly which made him squeeze the hand that held her waist. His hand went from her cheek to behind her head where he grabbed a handful of her head and tilted it back. He groaned when Juvia moved her hips over his crotch and he could feel her smirking. It was bringing back memories of their summer together.

After what seemed to be an eternity, the two of them broke away and there was the sound of cheering coming from their left. Their heads snapped in the direction of the noise and there were her three female friends that had left her as well as three guys that they all liked. Juvia raised an eyebrow when he saw Lyon standing by Meredy's side, but she put that at the back of her mind.

"D'you guys mind? I'm with my girl here."

Zancrow turned his head to look back at Juvia and when he saw that she was still looking at them, his hand that was on her waist then cupped one of her well rounded globes which made her jump and glare at him with red cheeks.

"What was that for?"

"Your attention should be on me here."

Juvia grinned and shook her head, giving him a chaste kiss. "No need to be jealous. Juvia isn't going anywhere."

He grinned at her before nuzzling her neck. Juvia sighed and held him closer to her. "I'm sorry for everything I put you through and all the lies I told. I love you," he mumbled into her neck.

Juvia giggled and felt a stray tear fall down her face as she leaned her head on his head. From the way that he had hid the fact that he was emotionally abused just heart her inside. Why were people so mean to those that they deemed as weak? And for his own parents to say that he would never get any love? No, _she_ loved him and that was all that mattered.

"I love you too, Zancrow."

* * *

So how was that? Did you guys like it, because I hope you did! Yes, this is in fact the final chapter, I've decided to leave it there so that you guys can think for yourselves how you think it turned out lol. The time period was a very short one, pretty much just a week and that was what I was aiming for. I remember watching a film that had a time frame of just a day and they still managed to make it more than an hour long lol. That inspired me to write a story with a short time frame.

It's the little things that count right? Well, I just want to let you guys know that you should all be looking out for my next Juvia x Zancrow story. I've actually got 2 stories that I started writing before this one, but those storylines are a bit longer, so I'm trying to perfect and finish them up first before I even release the first chapter. I'm not dead or anything guys, just suuuuper busy!

Please don't forget to rate or hate, flames or floods! Reviews are cute and so are you guys! Thank you to those who liked this story and appreciated this crack pairing of mine! Don't think that this will be the end of this pairing, I have so much in store for them and the two next stories with them aren't AU! I won't be making any promises on when I'm releasing them, but I will probably notify you guys on Tumblr! Follow me at **dark-gothic-lolita** if you don't already!

Lolita-love,

Lolita-chan


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